It's A Small World

A quickly drawn sketch of the whimsical façade of world architecture in the loading area of It's A Small World, an attraction at the Disney World Magic Kingdom theme park in Florida. Felt tip marker on tracing paper, with color added later, 8" by 4" original size, done December, 2012.

Old Key West

Down at Disney World again to see holiday decorations. A view looking along the breezeway at the hospitality house of Old Key West resort. Quickly drawn with marker on tracing paper, approximately 6" by 9" original size, done December, 2012. 

Magic leaving Manhattan

Sailing away from Manhattan. A quickly drawn sketch of the New York skyline from the top deck of the Disney cruise ship Magic. Felt tip marker on tracing paper, approximately 7" by 10", done September, 2012.

Peggy's Cove

Recently I visited Peggy's Cove on the coast of Nova Scotia, near Halifax. It was very picturesque. These are two quickly drawn sketches done there, felt tip marker on tracing paper, approximately 6" by 10".

Wonder at Night

A view of naval architecture: the two funnels of the Disney cruise ship Wonder at night, standing on Deck 10. Marker and pencil on tracing paper, with sky added later using Paint Shop Pro, 5" by 7" original size, drawn from sketch notes, May 2012.

Canada Place

A quickly drawn sketch of the Disney cruise ship Wonder docked at Canada Place, Vancouver, British Columbia. Ball point pen on paper, approximately 5" by 8" original size, drawn on site, May 2012, with color touches added later with marker.

Alcatraz

A quickly drawn view of Alcatraz and Pier 39, San Francisco Bay, from Deck 10 of the Disney cruise ship Wonder. Ball point pen on ship's stationery, 5" by 3" original size, drawn on site, May 2012.

Coit Tower

A quickly drawn view of Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower, San Francisco, from Deck 10 of the Disney cruise ship Wonder. Ball point pen on ship's stationery, 5" by 3" original size, drawn on site, May, 2012.

Presidio

A quickly drawn view of San Francisco looking toward the Presidio from Deck 9 of the Disney cruise ship Wonder. Ball point pen on ship's stationery, 5" by 2" original size, drawn on site, May 2012.

Embarcadero

I recently sailed on a repositioning of the Disney cruise ship Wonder. One of the ports of call was San Francisco. The ship docked at Pier 35. Here is a quickly drawn sketch view from the promenade deck of the ship looking toward the Embarcadero and the Oakland Bridge. Ball point pen on ship's stationery, 5" by 2" actual size, drawn on site, May, 2012.

Epcot France

A quickly drawn sketch of a portion of Epcot France at Disney World in Florida. Felt tip marker and pencil on tracing paper, 8 1/2" by 11" original size, done May, 2012.

Old Key West

Recently I spent a few days at Disney World in Florida. Here is a view of the hospitality house at Disney's Old Key West resort at dusk looking northeast from Peninsular Road. Felt tip marker on tracing paper, 5 1/2" by 4 1/2" original size, with sky tone added later using Paint Shop Pro, drawn May, 2012.

Rosemont Muvico

A quickly drawn sketch of the Muvico Theatre in Rosemont, near Chicago's O'Hare airport. Felt tip marker on tracing paper, approximately 6" by 9" original size, done April, 2012.

Millennium Park

A sketch of the open-air theatre, the Pritzker Pavilion, at Millennium Park in Chicago. Felt tip marker and pencil on tracing paper, 6" by 7" original size, done April, 2012. 

Cultural Center

A sketch of the east front of the Chicago Cultural Center along Michigan Avenue. I remember it more as the old Chicago Public Library. The buildings to the north and to the west are merely suggested. Felt tip marker on tracing paper, approximately 8 1/2" by 11" original size, drawn April, 2012.

Airport

Another view of the airport terminal building posted earlier on this blog, drawn using Google SketchUp in 2003.

Log Home

A sketch of the log home shown in an earlier post, but in a different setting. Approximately 11" by 8 1/2" original size, drawn with Google SketchUp in 2003 on paper and hand finished with felt tip marker.

Kitchen Addition

The interior of a kitchen addition drawn in 2006 using Google SketchUp, 7" by 5" original size.

Hilltop Interior

Interior view of the living room of the hilltop retreat posted earlier in this blog, drawn using Google SketchUp in 2005, 7" by 5" original size.

Chapel

Two views of a small Catholic eucharistic adoration chapel, drawn in 2005 using Google SketchUp, 7" by 5" original size.

Getaway Cottage

Sketch of the interior of a small getaway cottage project from 2006. Approximately 8" by 5" original size, drawn using Google SketchUp.

Hip Roofs

An abstract painting of hip roofs based on an aerial photograph in Scientific American from the 70s. Acrylic paint and sand on illustration board, a portion of an original work 20" by 28" in size, done Spring, 1971.

Portrait of a Woman

I suppose every architect had a figure drawing class at one time or another, and that included yours truly. The head looks a little large in this sketch done in Spring, 1970. Conté crayon on paper, approximately 4" by 6" original size, part of a larger drawing.

Greatest Hits

Coming up to six months since I established this blog, I thought that the audience might like to know which posts have been viewed the most. The view of the Tuileries from Place de la Concorde in Paris (top sketch) has received the most hits, followed closely by the sketch of Paris' L'Arc de Triomphe (middle sketch). The most hits in one day goes to the watercolor of Bunny's Liquors in Urbana, IL (bottom sketch). Now, how does one explain the audience's interest? Some of it has to do with the subject matter of the sketches, I suppose; or it might be the medium that the drawing was done in; or it could be the style of the sketching technique. In order to make it easier to find a type of sketch or technique or media, I recently added more labeling gadgets.

O'Hare Office Corridor

A cartoonish view looking east along the Kennedy Expressway from the Dee Road bridge near O'Hare airport. The small office building corridor is familiar to thousands of Chicago area rush hour motorists. Felt tip marker and pencil on tracing paper, approximately 8" by 6" original size, drawn March, 2012.

Pickwick Theatre

A drawing of the Art Deco style Pickwick Theatre in Park Ridge, IL, a suburb of Chicago. Felt tip marker on tracing paper, approximately 6" by 8" original size, done March, 2012; with background tone on the upper portion of the building added by placing another sheet of trace with the tone under the drawing. Sky tone was added using Paint Shop Pro.

Superdawg Drive-In

Sketch (really more of a scribble) of the Superdawg Drive-In, Chicago. Original size: 3" by 8", felt tip marker on tracing paper with the image color reversed using Paint Shop Pro, done March, 2012.

Townhouse

Sketch of the interior of a townhouse project from 2005, produced using Google SketchUp, 8 1/2" by 11" original size.

Our Lady, Mother of the Church

These drawings were part of a feasibility study that I did for a remodeling of my parish church. The parishioners desired the removal of the plaster baldachino which obscured the diamond-shaped stained glass windows in the church's sanctuary. The final commission was given to another architect. The sketches were drawn in October, 2001 from existing plans of the church using the Microsoft Paint accessory.

Log Home

Exterior view (top sketch) and interior view of the great room (bottom sketch) of the log home project in northeastern Illinois from 1995 from a previous posting. Felt tip marker and pencil on tracing paper, 6" by 4" original sizes.

Log Home

Two sketches of driveway approaches to a log home project in northeastern Illinois from 1995. Felt tip marker on tracing paper, each sketch originally 7" by 5".

School of Athens

This is the outcome of an assignment in one of my drawing classes: to copy and abstract a Renaissance painting. I chose Raphael's School of Athens at the Vatican from a photograph in H. W. Janson's History of Art. Looking at it some forty years later, my depiction of the painting's architecture (a reference to the new St. Peter's basilica) does not really look very abstract. A detail of a 27" by 20" acrylic painting on illustration board, done Spring, 1971. I photographed it at an angle to exaggerate the vertical perspective.

Altgeld Hall

An unfinished drawing of the bell tower of Altgeld Hall, a Neo-Romanesque building on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Conté crayon and turpentine wash on glossy paper, approximately 8" by 16" original size, done Spring, 1969.

Switch House

A railroad switching yard house in Champaign, IL. A watercolor, approximately 16" by 14" original size, done on site, Spring, 1970.

Illioskee

A view of Illioskee, a carnival that used to be held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A watercolor, approximately 16" by 14" original size, Spring, 1970.

Bunny's Liquors

Now, I am going to post a few earlier watercolors. Here is a view of Bunny's Package Liquors in Urbana, IL: approximately 16" by 14" original size, done on site, Spring, 1970.

Leaning Tower

A sketch of the Leaning Tower.....of Niles, a suburb of Chicago. This half-size replica of Pisa Cathedral's campanile is located at the Leaning Tower YMCA. A quick study, felt tip marker on tracing paper, 6" by 8" original size, done March, 2012.

Russell's Barbecue

Before there was a McDonald's, there was Russell's. Serving barbecue sandwiches since 1930, Ray Kroc probably sold this establishment Multi-Mixers way before he sold them to the McDonald brothers. For me, the building evokes a monumental Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie Style house, several of which are nearby: the simple volumes, the broad low-pitched roof with overhanging eaves, the horizontal bands of windows and wall materials. Felt tip marker on tracing paper, approximately 6" by 8" original size, drawn on site, March, 2012.

Ukrainian Church

Getting really close to home, here is a sketch of St. Joseph Ukrainian Catholic church in Chicago. The onion domes were originally bright metallic, but they were painted over because pilots landing planes at nearby O'Hare airport complained about the glare from them. Felt tip marker on tracing paper, approximately 6" by 5" original size, drawn on site, March, 2012. The sketch was photographed and color depth was decreased and a sky tone was added using Paint Shop Pro.

This is the same sketch as above, but with the vertical perspective exaggerated and with some added color using Paint Shop Pro to simulate sunset.

North Avenue Beach

A sketch of North Avenue beach looking south toward the Chicago skyline. Felt tip marker on tracing paper, 8" by 6" original size, drawn October, 2011.

Chinatown

A view of Chinatown in Chicago looking north along Wentworth Avenue. Willis Tower is in the distance, behind the Chinatown gate. Felt tip marker on tracing paper, approximately 6" by 8" original size, done August, 2011, with sky tone added later.

Millennium Park

A sketch looking north toward Randolph Street from Millennium Park. A quick study, felt tip marker on tracing paper, 6" by 7" original size, done August, 2011, with sky tint added later using Paint Shop Pro.