I've passed this place dozens of times over the years. It's just to the south of Hamilton Avenue, in the shadow of the Gowanus Expressway Viaduct, at the end of the Gowanus Canal. I never knew exactly what it was, but always wanted to draw it. I knew something this complex would need a major commitment of time to do. A few weeks ago, I finally carved out the time to do it.
Turns out it is the NYC Department of Transportation's asphalt plant. I had no idea that the city manufactured all its own asphalt, but apparently it does. Tons of granite are brought in, mostly from upstate quarries on the Hudson River, which is then crushed into gravel and combined with a thick liquid made from distilled crude oil to produce the asphalt used to pave the streets of New York. It produces up to 400,000 tons of the stuff per year!
Some cool photos of the interior of the plant can be found at Michael Minn's site.
Process
The initial pencil drawing. It was one of the first nice weekend days of Spring. Some people would spend such a day in the park; I spent it chilling beneath the Gowanus Expressway.
Step Two: Solidifying it into an ink drawing. Done with Pigma Micron pens.
Laying in the sky with a wash of water color, and the ground with Derwent Inktense pencils. I often find it helpful to lay this in first, to give the central subject its grounding and background as a base. I don't always do this first, but a lot of times it helps, especially when the main subject is very busy and complex.
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