View the full-sized version of the two-page spread here.
This aerial shot of the Gold Coast and the Loop faces southwest from over Lake Michigan. Along with the Sears Tower, Hancock Building, and Aon Center, prominent buildings such as the Drake Hotel, Water Tower Place, the IBM building, One and Two Prudential Plaza, First Chicago, and the Montgomery Ward Building are clearly visible. Also visible, but partially obscured are Lake Point Tower, the Tribune Building, the Wrigley Building, and many others. This image is fairly accurate as of the fall of 2007, but as this book goes into publication, it’s already out of date. Trump Tower has gone up along the river, sending a fourth large spire into the sky, and the Sears Tower has been renamed the Willis Tower.
While I didn’t have a direct reference for the camera angle, I cobbled together enough material from various sources to infer what I needed. I roughed out the initial composition in pencil, using Google Earth with its low-resolution 3D models to compose the shot andposition the buildings. Then, using atwo foot ruler, I found the horizon and vanishing points (which extended well off the edge of the page), and outlined all the buildings in perspective. Using photos I had taken from the top of the Hancock Building (the tall, darker tower in the foreground on the right hand side) and from the Ferris Wheel on Navy Pier (which would sit off the left hand edge of the page), I slowly worked my way across the image, identifying each building and laying in the details. Ultimately, the shot took about 40 hours to put together over the course of a week and a half.
An incredible image. Your attention to detail is astounding and inspiring, and the pacing and the quality of your story telling is top-notch. Keep it up, please keep it up!
Mike seems to show signs of a possible history with the Feds…
agreed. Maybe it has something to do with his time overseas?
Well, from what hes said thus far in the story, hes definatly got some a military background. Whether that has to do with him having a burr up his backside about Xiang, or it being unrelated…..well, I guess we’ll found out in due time. ^_^ Very well done story, Mr. Tiede.
Absolutely beautiful skyline. Heh, I drive down LSD so many times, it is neat to see it from an angle that you just can’t. From your mind to the page, it looks just great.
You must either love or hate your ruler. A week and a half? Wow.
Looks stunning
Hm, seems the new format/site does not like wide images… now the text is unreadable! Any chance a link to a larger, more readable version will be linked to any wide images in the future?
Sadly, yes. That’s why I included the link to the big version. At some point I’ll figure out how to make it zoom within the page, but not now.
It’s still the Sears Tower. It will always be the Sears Tower, no matter what name they hang on the outside.
Just as Marshall Field’s will always be such, rather than Macy’s.
Outstanding rendering of the Chicago Skyline, Dirk. Gave me goose bumps!
Wow. That’s all I gotta say. For skylines, we use city generators with 3D rendering programs; you’ve gone above and beyond that. Damn good job.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. You are one good artist Dirk.
Back at pages page 33, with agent Xiang, someone commented that “Major” Montgomery had a “Captain” insignia. “Old Picture?”
Here, the characters says the exact same thing.