Savannah MAP-DRAWINGS: new No.4

One new image (Savannah Map No. 4: Wright Square) completes the current set of Savannah Maps - drawing upon pieces of historic maps + new drawings. I plan to do similar drawings for other squares - Monterey, Madison, Troup...

(New) Savannah Map No. 4

Wright Square

Savannah Map No. 3

Coastal Landscape

Savannah Map No. 2

1916 Sanborn

Savannah Map No. 1

CITY HOUSES: no Copenhagen, no London (yet)

I did not complete five City Houses drawings, only three. The absent members of this set are Copenhagen and London. Apparently the images of the charming salvaged materials shacks along the pond in Copenhagen are only so vivid in my memory. The photographic evidence I have does not provide enough to make drawings from, unfortunately. Perhaps I will be there again.

I am still determined to draw London. The Mews, the alleys - similar to our Lanes in Savannah - where garage doors mingle with smaller dwellings. A less polished streetscape, more intimate back-door environment.

CITY HOUSES: Savannah Georgia

What...Did you think I would honor Portland and Charleston, and forget Savannah?

Here she is, draped in spanish moss. The prevailing house type in the core is the rowhome with a parlor level entry portico, most built in the early-mid 1800s. The variety occurs as the stairs from the portico turn or wrap, depending on the lot width or architectural whim, perhaps. Sometimes a door to the street level dwelling opens within the base of these tall stoops, sometimes just a window. Sometimes a roof covers the entry, or not. Variety also abounds in the homes to which the porticos are attached.

The streetscape along the lower edge is Gordon Row (1853), fifteen units built on the same pattern with curved entry stairs. It is interesting to note how these units have evolved by separate owners over 150 years. According to the official tour guide manual, top floor apartments after WW II rented for $5.00 a month and included to right to keep chickens on the roof. The structural regularity of Gordon Row is a nice counterpart to the diversity in the opposite streetscape which is a comglomeration of Savannah rowhomes.

CITY HOUSES: Charleston South Carolina

The Charleston side porch house prevails throughout the old city, in major and modest manifestations.
Merchants' mansions on the Battery,
the most common two-story versions,
and the more obscure, now (not as well-preserved) single-story side porch houses known as Freedman's Cottages. This streetscape features the first-mentioned types. I hope to draw the Freedman's Cottages in another iteration.
As for urban context, the palmettoes and the sea at the edge of the peninsula which the Battery houses overlook are essential, and the antique wallpaper pattern conveys the decorum of Charlestonian senses.
I will add watercolor to the porch spaces, highlighted on the print in a very light yellow, as the final layer.

CITY HOUSES: Portland Oregon

Well, I set my task two months ago: NEW DRAWINGS for SPRING, to be revealed in Late April. Time flies when you are working hard and having fun. Today is my last chance at Late April. So I will introduce the new drawings, a little at a time over the next week or so.

Beginning with the CITY HOUSES Series.

(I think I called these "Streetscapes:5 new images" in my initial goal list. Things evolved.)
I love to find the quintessential house type that seems to characterize a city. I am so interested in drawing them to see the similar language they speak, in forms, material and detail - and the individual features that make each unique. I also appreciate the urban context which gives form to these houses; In this case, the Green Yards and abundant Large Trees in many varieties.
When I visited Portland last summer, I got pretty excited about all the Bungalows.

bottom left is Shelley + Mitch's house!

Savannah on npr

Just in case you are interested to know what npr listeners learn about Savannah:
(and wouldn't mind listening to archives while the fund drive is going on...)

What We Don't Know About Sherman's March

Georgia's 'Geechee' Culture Braces for Change

Better Design for Low-Cost Homes

Area Mourns Victims in Georgia Sugar Refinery Blast

For 50 Years, Nuclear Bomb Lost in Watery Grave

Uga: The University of Georgia Mascot

Justice Thomas Tells His Story

Letters: MLK Boulevards

A Hard-Working Neighbor, with Style

Raising Dogs, Fighting Dogs

A City Steps Up: Savannah Confronts Poverty

The Black Gullah Culture of the Sea Islands

'Reconstruction: The Second Civil War'

Charleston TEST Patterns

Swatches of a new Vernacular House Types + Cities Poster: I'm trying to decide which tones best characterize CHARLESTON...
Yes, somewhere between two and three. The child of Charleston Green and Antique English Blue.