INSPIREme Chicago: Curves & Crevices

This time around, the featured book is more of a "view" rather than a "read". It's an amazing collection of Chicago's architectural landmarks, drawn by an architectural designer who lives in Chicago.

Dennis Alex spent five years illustrating 52 different landmarks in the Chicago area, including the Chicago Theatre, Wrigley Field and O'hare Airport. In the book, Curves & Crevices: Romancing Chicago, each landmark is shown as a detailed black and white sketch, as well as a digitally painted illustration. It's truly incredible to see the detail he captures in his drawings.

Alex originally studied architecture in India, where he was born. He then moved to Hong Kong to continue his studies and work in architectural design. He now lives in Chicago and published his book of illustrations in December of 2009. I got to talk with Dennis Alex today about his fabulous book. Here are excerpts from our conversation:

INSPIREme: You have an amazing talent for drawing. How did you get into drawing Chicago's landmarks?

DENNIS ALEX: In 2004, I gave it my first shot. The first one was the Field Museum. I gave it a try and it came out OK! I was actually surprised at how it came out! That built my confidence to go ahead and do the rest. I didn’t want to do anything that wouldn’t capture the real beauty of the architecture. Those are amazing structures so I didn’t want to do something and make them look ugly.

INSPIREme: In the introduction, you say Chicago is "one of the world's most glamorous, prosperous and mesmerizing cities". You obviously have a big place for Chicago in your heart.

DENNIS ALEX: I do. No matter where you are in the world, if you’re studying architecture you have to learn about Chicago because most of the modern architectural movement started here. You learn a lot about the many buildings in Chicago, like the Sears Tower of course then Crown Hall, and Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright. All those greats came out of this city.

I learned about all that in India, but I never thought someday I would come and see this place. So it was amazing to come over here and see the great city personally. When I saw it, it was beyond my expectations all together-- much more beautiful than I expected. Not only the buildings, but the city all together. It’s such a vibrant, dynamic, wonderful city full of surprises and beauty. I love this city very much.

INSPIREme: How would you describe the experience of putting together so many illustrations from a city you love so much?

DENNIS ALEX: It was a wonderful journey. Rather than work, it was a passion-- a passionate journey for past 5 years exploring the beautiful city.

INSPIREme: There are 52 drawings in the book. Which is your favorite?

DENNIS ALEX: It’s pretty hard to say. All of them are my babies!

INSPIREme: So how long does it take you to do a drawing from start to finish?

DENNIS ALEX: Some of them took me over two months-- like the Buckingham Fountain. It took one month just to do the water and capture the real feel of the fountain. I had to get the water droplets in great detail. That had to be right in that picture.

INSPIREme:For each structure, there are two photos: a black and white sketch and a color photo. Why did you decide to include both in the book?

DENNIS ALEX: It shows the process. The first process is to get a black and white ink line drawing. And then scan it to the computer and color it. The black and white line drawing has to be done in great detail. Once you have that it’s not too difficult to color it. Some people like to see it like a sketch. Even black and white line drawings have a beauty, so I just wanted to show the process.

Curves & Crevices is a really neat book to keep on your coffee table or at your office. It's fun to flip through and see all the iconic landmarks of our city. The most impressive part, is that these are more than still photos. They're drawings that took two months each to create. I took some photos of the book so you can see just how impressive the illustrations are: