Community Boating, Boston

By Conor Plunkett

Piece description from the artist

A pen and ink drawing of Boston's Community Boating along the Charles River. Community Boating is a gem, situated right in the heart of the city within the Charles River Basin, between Storrow and Memorial Drives. On sunny, breezy days you can see a hundred boats out cruising around. In my school days, I used to race the small one-masted Mercury boats here. You can still see competitions going on if you look carefully. Back in the day, the Charles River was rather polluted, so you tried your hardest not to "hike-out" too far or capsize when "coming-about." Otherwise it was a wet, smelly ride home. The Charles is now much cleaner and a joy to sail on. After a lot of thought, I chose to make the water in this drawing jet black. By doing this, it puts all of the focus on the wooden dock, the boats, and the Boston sky line in the background; creating a dramatic contrast between the water and the other elements in the drawing. Enjoy the art!