Here's a handsome piece of Cambridge, Massachusetts residential architecture. These majestic carved-wood porticos were produced in the 19th and 20th centuries but you will never see them built nowadays. It just takes too much time and skill to produce them. You will also note the different medium I used for this drawing. This was drawn entirely in markers with no pen and ink used. The markers I used are no longer produced, just like the porticos. They were "Stabilayout" markers from Stabilo of Germany, and they had chisel points, not brush points like the current Copics. The colors were water-based. The markers were short and squarish in shape and fitted into a big plastic folder. The only trouble with them was that as with most marker sets you didn't get pastel, neutralized or earth colors. Those had to be ordered separately. I also used some pen markers for the brown lines.
This drawing was done outdoors, street view on a chilly day in March. The lighter colors in the drawing were those extra colors I ordered for architectural work. I used those Stabilo markers for many years before they dried out. Street drawing isn't what it used to be. I could sit and draw undisturbed in Cambridge back in 1987 but if I tried it nowadays or attempted to draw a residential building in Northern Virginia I would be chased away, maybe even attended to by police so no thanks. There are still ways to do street drawing as long as you go into a public space like a parking lot and ask permission to remain there for a while.
Markers on sketchbook page, 7 1/2" x 10", March 8, 1987. Click for larger view.
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