I wanted to illustrate something I was familiar with, and I had driven through this area in the past, downtown, and thought the Columbus statue was cool. I know of other Columbus circles. There's a statue within a Columbus Circle in Spain that I visited last summer. So I thought it was interesting that Syracuse had a pretty nice one too.

When I went down to do sketches, it was very busy with people and cars. I didn't get a good parking spot, so I didn't want to leave my car for too long. So the drawing was quick, but it's the same composition I used for the final painting. I'm happy with how it came out. I got the natural and manmade elements in balance, and I'm happy with the different textures, the lighting, and the way it captures Syracuse's atmosphere.