Day 22 – The Chrysler Building

The Challenge
Today’s challenge is about looking up. The Chrysler Building provides the focal point, but rather than trying to reproduce every window and architectural detail, the aim is to use perspective, selective line and tone to create a sense of height. I use a Lamy Safari with a fine nib and black waterproof ink, adding water with a brush to pull tone from some of the lines.

What I Learned
This is not a sketch I particularly like, but perhaps that is part of the challenge. The crown becomes too busy and loses some of the elegant Art Deco structure of the building, while the main tower could feel more solid. There are, however, things here that I probably would not have done three weeks ago. Large areas are left almost untouched, the surrounding buildings are suggested rather than described, and some edges are deliberately allowed to disappear. The dark foreground shapes and converging street do much of the work in creating depth and directing the eye upwards. It may not feel like progress when I look at the finished drawing, but perhaps learning what to leave out is progress in itself.

Verdict – Not one of the strongest finished sketches of the challenge. The crown is overworked and the tower lacks some of the solidity and elegance of the reference. But there is considerably more restraint here than there would have been at the beginning of the challenge. The disappearing edges, largely empty surfaces and simplified foreground show increasing confidence in suggestion rather than description. The lesson is better than the drawing — and sometimes that is enough.
Score — 6.8/10