Drawing Western Avenue in Muskegon, Michigan

I thought I'd share the process of how I draw.  For the subject, I decided on drawing Western Avenue in my hometown of Muskegon, Michigan.  It's the main street of downtown which has been bulldozed and rebuilt about every other generation.  Somehow, both of these buildings, the Russell Block to the left and the Century Club to the right, have been able to survive since the 1890s.  Anyway, this is how I draw.

 I've measured out a piece of paper to fit an 8" x 10" frame.  I've also added a border.  I like to leave an edge to the paper just in case someone decides to change the frame in the future.  It allows more flexibility for using mats and different size frames.  Next, I tape the paper down to my drawing board and prepare to sketch.

So, I sketch out my general lines in pencil.  I place various points of reference.  For example, I've used the edge of the street and rooflines to keep everything in balance. 

Once I have my reference points, I move into framing the structures.  I really like bold, straight lines that border on architectural drafting.  

This is the nitty-gritty.  From the outside of the building, you can usually see where the support beams are located.  In mid-century Modernist building they tend to be completely exposed.  But, in Victorian-era structures they are more subtle and hidden.  Most of my pencil lines are used to find the underlying structure so I can apply the facade appropriately.

The outline of the Century Club is now complete. 

The restored Western Avenue now has a median.  I had to sketch this in before moving on to the Russell Block building because it is in the foreground.  Then to the van, sidewalk, and the first floor of the structure.  From there, I worked my way up the building using the initial support beams as my guides once again.   

The outline is complete. 

 Then, I add the ink wash.  I like to add an organic wash to counter-balance the rigid drafting technique.    It takes the drawing out of the realm of a photograph and places it into a memory or dream.

The landscaping was particularly fun on this project. 

A detail of the cars. 

And, we're done.  We have a drawing celebrating the crown jewel of Muskegon's downtown.

Add it to a frame and hang it on your wall. 

Or place it on your mantle.  

Have any questions?  Let me know.

Western Avenue In Muskegon, Michigan, 2014

Pen and ink on paper

8" x 10"

© copyright Mike Kraus

To purchase, please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/194679066/western-avenue-in-muskegon-michigan

Bushnell's Basin Along the Erie Canal

Bushnell's Basin Along the Erie Canal, 2014

Acrylic on canvas board

7" x 9"

Collection of Seth and Michelle Klein

© copyright Mike Kraus

Please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/186507940/custom-commission-original-art-by-mike?

Bushnell's Basin Along the Erie Canal was commissioned to honor a special event and given on Mother's Day.  For more information or custom order, please visit:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MikeKrausArt 

Palmer Hall

"Palmer Hall", 2014

pen and ink 
© copyright Mike Kraus

I paid the fee and they unlocked the doors.  We transferred our equipment from the car onto the stage.  Other groups arrive and friends gather in the parking lot.  Standing around the back door waiting for our drinks to be delivered.  This is the only place where kids are welcome.  Killing time with skateboards and forgetting the long week.  It’s 7pm and time to open the doors for the show.

Chicago Alley

Chicago Alley, 2014

pen and colored pencils 
© copyright Mike Kraus

I like to look at the back of buildings while riding the "L."  The ugly mess of twisted wires, garbage, and feral strays can open up to something more beautiful.  It reveals how the city works just as the facade hides it.  

Good Night Factory

Good Night Factory, 2014

scratchboard

© copyright Mike Kraus

The Acropolis or Coliseum of the Industrial Age.  Ruins commonly found throughout the Rust Belt.  The upheaval that occurred as families left the manual labor of their farms for the power-driven manufacturing of monolithic corporations.  A complicated artificial bond that brought gains in efficiency, medicine, and life expectancy as well as ecological damage, dehumanization, and greater inequality.  A dysfunctional relationship that scars entire regions as production is automated or leaves for poverty-stricken districts desperate for menial wages.  What happens to people when we are no longer needed?

Wilder Building

Wilder Building, 2014

pen, ink, and graphite

© copyright Mike Kraus


Buildings do more than shelter us from the rain.  They reveal human intelligence and purpose.  What kind of technology did it require in 1887 to construct Rochester's first modern skyscraper?  What was the architect trying to tell us using the Romanesque style?  It's on the National Register of Historic Places, so what does the Wilder Building mean to us today?  Something that is difficult to think about when speeding by the structure in a car.

Adventures in the Flower City

 The High Falls (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Falls_(Rochester,_New_York)) of the Genesee River in downtown Rochester.  This 96 foot high waterfall is the reason Rochester exists.  As evidenced by the foundations and structures around the falls, these falls provided energy for early industrial facilities.

Genesee Brewing Company (Genny) (http://www.geneseebeer.com/) overlooking the High Falls.  Someone told me recently that the new paint job reminds them of Santa's Village.  It is really festive this season with all the snow and all.  

A view of the High Falls/Brown's Race District (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown's_Race_Historic_District) and downtown. 

RGE power station to the northwest of the High Falls with the Kodak Headquarters in the background.   This station is still in operation using coal, gas, oil, and hydroelectric power, but is scheduled to be demolished after 120+ years in use.  There's great potential for redevelopment/natural rehabilitation in this area.

Panorama of the High Falls with downtown Rochester in the background. 

A close up of the High Falls. 

 Pont de Rennes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_De_Rennes_bridge) over the Genesee River Gorge.  It use to be a street bridge before being converted to a pedestrian bridge.  It provides the best view of the High Falls

A view of the Pont de Rennes bridge looking toward the northwest.

 A close up of the High Falls.  The pavilion to the top right of the falls is a viewing area for the falls.  To the left is a railroad bridge with supports in front of it.  Rumor has it that a pedestrian bridge will be built there in the near future.  A great idea to complete a High Falls Loop trail.  It will also provide better access to downtown and improve the Genesee Riverway Trail (http://www.cityofrochester.gov/grt/).

Phoenix Mill Building (http://www.communitywalk.com/location/flour_milling_phoenix_mill/info/2981412) at the base of the Pont de Rennes Bridge.  It's kind of a strange building because it's been burned down, replace, destroyed, restored so many times.  It's a mutant of a building with lots of different building materials and styles.

A view of the Brown's Race District looking southeast of Browns Race Street.   To the left, you will see little bridges between the buildings and street.  This was once a water raceway that provided hydroelectric power to many of the structures.  There are plans to convert this into a sunken garden.  Plans can be viewed at: https://ioby.org/project/sustainable-sunken-garden-browns-race

Victorian Rochester Water Works Building with the raceway in front.   

 Brown's Race Market.  It's a converted maintenance building with a view of the High Falls gorge.  Again, with the raceway in front.

Once home to the Rochester Button Company on State Street.   They were the Apple Computers of buttons back in the day.

High Falls Business Center (http://www.highfallsbizcenter.com/) 

This building on Mill Street is my dream building.  I've always wanted to own a building like this, live upstairs, and run a business on the first floor. 

This was once a paper box factory. 

The Stantec Building (http://www.stantec.com/) was once a powerhouse for the New York Railway Company.  

To find out more about the High Falls/Browns Race area, you should check out: http://gardenaerial.org/  They are doing great work with developing trails, gardens, festivals, and sooooooooooooo much more.

I recently drove up State St/Lake Ave and was surprised at how intact the neighborhoods are and the quality of architecture.  Seems ripe for a north/south street car line between Ontario Beach Park/Charlotte-downtown-U of R/Marketplace Mall/RIT.  

Kodak World Headquarters (http://www.kodak.com/ek/US/en/Home.htm).  My camera has come home.

Kodak Tower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodak_Tower).  George Eastman moved his business here on State Street from a previous location in 1882.  The first 16 stories of the main structure was constructed in 1914 and the top added in 1930.  It has been surrounded and encased with a series of unfortunate buildings since.  

 What is that off in the distance?  It's Frontier Field baseball stadium (http://www.frontierfield.org/) (or outdoor hockey arena this week).  It's unfortunate that they located the stadium in the back along the highway and parking in the front near all the activity.  This really undermines the whole purpose of using a stadium to generate economic activity for the area.  This lot should be replaced with something like Patriots Place in Foxborough (http://www.patriot-place.com/) or Wrigleyville (http://www.chicagotraveler.com/neighborhoods/wrigleyville-feature.htm) in Chicago.  Obviously, on a smaller scale.  Removing or boulevard-izing the Inner Loop would go a long way to improving the area.  Better connections to the Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood, which is cut off by 490 would also be mutually beneficial.

Heading back to downtown.  Here's a building that is a part of the State Street Historic District (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Street_Historic_District_(Rochester,_New_York)).  

 Column of the First National Bank of Rochester-Old Monroe County Savings Bank (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_National_Bank_of_Rochester-Old_Monroe_County_Savings_Bank_Building) on State Street. 

Wilder Building (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilder_Building) on Main and Exchange.

Reynolds Arcade Building (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynolds_Arcade) on Main Street.  Another great Art Deco building downtown. 

A view west from Aqueduct Park.   

Rundel Memorial Library (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rundel_Memorial_Library) 

Court Street Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_Street_Bridge_(Genesee_River)).  Rochester has a great collection of bridges downtown within walking distance.  The San Antonio River Walk (http://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/) could be inspiration. 

Flood control dam near Court Street.

"U Look So Good Today."  Finally, graffiti that makes you feel good about yourself.

The Broad Street Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_Street_Bridge_(Rochester,_New_York)).  The first level was originally constructed as an aqueduct to cross the Genesee River (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesee_River) for the Erie Canal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Canal).  The second level was added about 90 years later for car traffic.  When the Erie Canal was re-routed, the aqueduct was repurposed as a subway.  The subway was shut down in 1956, leaving this portion abandoned.   

 A view of the Broad Street Bridge from the War Memorial at Blue Cross Arena (http://www.bluecrossarena.com/)/Civic Center Complex/Festival Grounds. on the west side.  On the other side is the Rundel Memorial Library/Rochester Riverside Convention Center (http://www.rrcc.com/)/hotels.  This could be the centerpiece of a river walk system.  It provides tons of connections with a historic and interesting location.    

Another exterior view of the bridge.  The automobile section should be upgraded as a part of any renovation.  The top looks like just an other boring bridge.  Some landscaping, railing work, pedestrian amenities, and lighting could go a long way.

The interior of the Broad Street Bridge Aqueduct. 

This was the former bed of the Erie Canal through downtown Rochester.  It's amazing how light this space is.  I'm imagining Millennium Station (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Station) in Chicago.

Crossing the uninteresting top of the Broad Street Bridge (mentioned earlier) heading to the Bausch and Lomb Place (http://www.bausch.com/) (tall building in the center) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bausch_&_Lomb_Place).  Not sure about the long term future of this Rochester institution since they were recently purchased by another company that seems determined to leave the area.

Bausch and Lomb Atrium. 

Interior of the Bausch and Lomb Atrium all decorated for the holidays.  Postmodern design and a fairly active space at lunchtime.  

Another view of the interior of the atrium.  I didn't add the twinkling lights or know how to make them stop.  But, enjoy...

A section of the Berlin Wall in the atrium of Bausch and Lomb.

This probably concludes my roaming of downtown Rochester for now.  My jury duty is at an end.  But, if you are interested in seeing more, please visit my previous visits at:

Rochester

1) http://mikekraus.blogspot.com/2010/05/wedding-stuff-evaluation-of-downtown.html

2) http://mikekraus.blogspot.com/2013/12/rochester-revisited.html

3) http://mikekraus.blogspot.com/2013/07/downtown-ra-cha-cha.html
Penfield

4) http://mikekraus.blogspot.com/2013/03/historic-four-corners-of-penfield.html

5) http://mikekraus.blogspot.com/2012/08/panorama-valley.html

6) http://mikekraus.blogspot.com/2012/09/panorama-valley-part-ii.html
Chicago
7) http://mikekraus.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html
8) http://mikekraus.blogspot.com/2007/03/let-learn-something-and-celebrate.html