Horizontal strips of Chicago

 Back in 2014 I was obsessed with creating horizontally oriented drawings of Chicago, especially industrial areas.  I wanted to see if I could use simple high-contrast drawings to record what I was seeing from the train and in the neighborhoods. Recently I revisited them and added color to a few. I still like them, but wide skinny images don't really lend themselves to the online format.  I combined them into a larger image, but it loses the panoramic feeling of what I was trying to capture.
  

Some shoebox houses in the K-Town Historic District of Chicago on the west side.  Documenting and illustrating these buildings was one way I stayed sane during quarantine.  Dates of construction range from the 1900s through the 1920s.  

I can't help but be impressed at the level of detail lavished on homes which are  comparable in size to a 2-bedroom apartment!  It was only possible due to inexpensive land and astounding levels of readily available craftsmanship, primarily from immigrants.