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Sunday, October 19, 2014

Grey and little pink Open House Chicago

For second time, I was fortunate to visit 3 buildings during the Open House Chicago weekend, presented by the CAF Chicago Architecture Foundation. Alex, one of the administrators of the Urban Sketchers Chicago group was the host this time. During this event people is allowed to come inside buildings that are normally closed to the public. Here's a map that I sketched the previous day to get familiar with the zone.
 
A4 Moleskine Watercolor Sketchbook, Pen&Ink EF, Platinum Carbon Ink, W&N Watercolor Paint.
 
Our first stop was The National Shrine of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, a spectacular building dedicated to Mother Cabrini. I decided to make two sketches of every building, one from the interior and another from the exterior; for that I needed to manage my time very well so I worked small frames. Although the walls and ceilings were covered with frescos, I skipped them and focused in the overall building.
 
A4 Moleskine Watercolor Sketchbook, Pen&Ink EF, Platinum Carbon Ink, W&N Watercolor Paint.
 
Our next stop was The Elks National Memorial, a monument dedicated to the members of the Order of Elks who served and made the ultimate sacrifice for this nation during World War I. Again, I omitted the exquisite murals all over the walls and ceilings. The overwhelming architecture was enough for this sketcher, so I focused in the dome, the marble columns and the iron work of the windows.
 
A4 Moleskine Watercolor Sketchbook, Pen&Ink EF, Platinum Carbon Ink, W&N Watercolor Paint.
 
 Here is a close-up:






 
 
The last building we visited was the Second Church of Christ Scientist. At this point I was cold and hungry. So I did only one sketch, and to be honest I was tired of the grey day and grey buildings too, so, to have fun even more, I painted this one in neon pink, yes, PINK, I like pink......pink, pink, pink, pink.....pink....pink.... hurray for pink.
 
A4 Moleskine Watercolor Sketchbook, Pen&Ink EF, Platinum Carbon Ink, W&N Watercolor Paint.
 
After that we took the photo of the group and the sketches we made,  then off we went for a drink and food. It was a nice day and well organized. Thanks to Alex Zonis for hosting this event.

2 comments:

  1. Great recap of our day. Your sketches and watercoloring captured the beautiful architecture we visited. It was a fun day with amazing architecture and everyone's inspiring sketches shared over food, drink & new friends.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Susan, it was a fun day, it was nice to meet you and other new members! Let's keep the joy of sketching!

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