This article is about Chicago Navy Pier #046Z Pen & Ink Drawing and John Hancock Center, which is for sale at discount with prints by artist Stephen F. Condren, BFA-SAIC, of Condren Galleries, a Fine Arts Gallery, offering JPEG & PDF scans. This is my pen & ink drawing of Chicago Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois.
Chicago Navy Pier Pen & Ink Drawing #941. Key elements to this drawing are as follows:
- Chicago skyline.
- Pen & Ink.
- Horizon.
- Chicago skyline: The backdrop of this scene is the cluster of skyscrapers that are at the core of Streeterville, on Chicago’s near north side. At the center of the cluster is none other than the famous John Hancock Center. The skyline makes for a wonderful support to the balance of the Drawing which centers on the Centennial Wheel and then move to the right and stops on the sail boats that are casually sailing on Lake Michigan.
- Pen & Ink: I have chosen to draw this scene in pen & ink. Pen & ink work very well with this kind of scene. The sail boats on the right balance out the composition and all the images are gently resting in the hands of the John Hancock Center. The line strokes are ever to carefully places so as not to give that “hatching” effect, but rather I wanted all of the line work in the drawing to be structural. Note the delineation on the John Hancock Center and it’s neighbor, Water Tower Place. All of the ink lines in these buildings have nothing to do with shade or shadow but rather with contour and structure. Because of this, the lines that form the other elements of the drawing all fall into place.
- Horizon: The vantage point for this drawing is square on the horizon line. It looks as though we are a bit below the horizon line but we are not. We are close to the water’s edge and above the decks of the sail boats. The horizon line has to be low for this kind of drawing to fit in all of the tall elements, even the tips of the boat sails go up beyond the half way point!