Chicago Skyline Pen & Ink Cityscape Drawing Of Downtown At Sunset #294A

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Chicago skyline 294A pen & ink cityscape drawing of downtown skyscrapers at sunset by Stephen Condren.

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Chicago skyline 294A pen & ink cityscape drawing of downtown skyscrapers at sunset by Stephen Condren.

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Chicago skyline 294A sunset pen & ink cityscape drawing of downtown skyscrapers at dusk, matted white in the size of 11″ x 14″.

Skylines, Cityscapes, And City Scene Genres

Below are three links to genres of skylines and cityscapes that I have done to help you understand my process:

1. Pen & Ink sketch & wash:  #207A
2. Color & lead pencil illustrations:  #2453A
3. Watercolors and tempera:  #1170A

Cityscape

This cityscape rendering is a pen & ink drawing of downtown Chicago from Monroe Harbor at sunset. We are looking west and the sun is setting behind Willis Tower, because the sun sets in the west. Hatched lines were used extensively in this city scape drawing because they offer intensity. The right side of the drawing is the darkest because it is far from the sun. Intense use of hatching and cross-hatching was used in this area because of the dark night sky. As you move closer to the sun the hatching dissipates.

There is no ink around Willis Tower because it is emitting the light of the sun. The St Regis is almost in the dark because it is on the far right side of the cityscape. The Aon Center near the middle of the drawing has an even balance of light around it. All along the top of the skyscrapers there is a glow of light from the sunset. The glow of light on top of the skyscrapers dissipates as you look more to the right side of the cityscape drawing.

Chicago Skyline 294A

The cityscape drawing shows Willis Tower on the left in front of the setting sun. Massive amounts of light are being emitted from behind Willis Tower because of the bright sun light. Glowing light from the sun is just under the skyscrapers reflecting in the water. The shadows of the cityscape can be seen in the waters of Lake Michigan below. No hatched lines were used in the water of this cityscape. The black ink is more intense for sunset cityscapes because the offer higher contrast. Color cityscape renderings offer the dimension of color but lose the depth of field in the drawing.

Lake Michigan offers a great source of light because the sunset can be reflected in the water below the horizon line. This effect offers a glowing feel to the cityscape because it offers extension of tones. Pen & ink drawings have been historically done with black ink because it was more available. The downside of color inks is the varnish like film on the pen can dry before the next application. This means that you have to take the pen and clean it over and over. The varnish effect on the ink is difficult to flow off of the pen on to the paper. However, if the pen is kept clean the results are excellent. The use of color with black on pen & ink drawings offers new dimension to the art form.