Today’s watercolor sketch is one I did a couple of years ago from my bookstore photographs.

Not only do I love photography and books, but bookstores also happen to be my favorite places to visit.  When I first lived in New York City, there were a lot of them: Argosy Book Store, near Park Avenue at 57th Street, Last Exit, near Tompkins Square, The Colosseum Book Store near Columbus Circle, The Gotham Bookstore, somewhere in mid-town, The Gryphon on the Upper West Side, and many others.  To me, it is so sad that there are so few of them left.  I must be old school, but I just can’t seem to get used to reading a book on my computer, and it is just so creepy having to buy a license to read a book on one of those dedicated book readers, that I just haven’t done it. The other day, a friend and I drove about 25 miles to a book store that buys old books and it was just heaven. Books everywhere! The philosophy section alone consisted of at least 3 floor to ceiling book shelves, a real browsing treat. Retail bookstores have a shelf-and-a-half at best in this category.

At any rate, below is the Madison Avenue Bookstore, which was having some problems staying in business when I was in NYC. It was located right next to the Whitney Museum of Art on Madison Avenue.

Madison Avenue Bookstore
10″x14″ 140# Watercolor Paper