First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh Archives

Silly Ink PITTSBURGH Prints

Prints available in 3 sizes

LGE $100 +- Paper dimension 27” wide x 20” high

MED $55 +- Paper dimension 15 1/8” wide x 11” high

SMALL $25 +- Paper dimension 11” wide x 8 1/2” high

8 1/2″ x 11″ prints are available for $25 each.
Discount available for the set of five prints. Contact me.

Black and white ink sketch of the Phipps and Robert Burns statue, with the Cathedral of Learning behind -- part of Carol Skinger's Silly Ink Drawings collection — Phipps & Robert Burns with Cathedral of Learning

University of Pittsburgh and a bit of CMU also seen in drawing.

CMU Buggy Race by Carol Skinger — CMU Buggy Race, Carnegie Mellon University

Scene in the illustration: Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, EQT Plaza, First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, K&L Gates Center, The Duquesne Club, the Granite Building, Trinity Cathedral, Wood St. Galleries, Wood St. T Station.

A larger archival print of ‘Sixth Avenue, Pittsburgh’ mis in the collection at the Duquesne Club and on display in their Health and Fitness Center. It’s also in the archives of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh at Trinity Cathedral, which is directly across the street from the Duquesne Club.

The Point in Pittsburgh, Head of the Ohio

Sixth Avenue drawing goes to the Duquesne Club!

May 10, 2016

Sixth Avenue- Pittsburgh by Carol Skinger

A 22″ x 30″ archival print of my ink drawing of Sixth Avenue- Pittsburgh has been purchased this spring of 2016 by the Duquesne Club in Pittsburgh. It’s been given the full Duquesne Club frame treatment has entered the Art Collection of the Duquesne Club and hangs in their Health and Fitness Club.

Ink drawing showing an expanded view of Sixth Avenue downtown Pittsburgh. Cyclists are coming at you and a car with a kayak on top. — Carol Skinger’s Sixth Avenue drawing at Duquesne Club, Pittsburgh

Prints of this pen and ink drawing on archival paper can be purchased here. Contact me for larger sizes.

Now I am in the collection of the Duquesne Club which is very cool to say! They have an important art collection. Anyone who has been in there will not forget seeing Charles Russell’s “When Shadows Hint Death”!

The Duquesne Club appears on the right in the foreground of my ink drawing Sixth Avenue Pittsburgh. Other things seen in drawing: Trinity Cathedral, First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, the Granite Building, EQT Plaza, K&L Gates Center, Wood St Galleries, Wood St. T Station.

The Duquesne Club was the strictly the old boys network until 1980 when women could become members.

“Women were first welcomed as guests at the Ladies Cocktail Bar in 1934, but not as members until 1980. Yet, in this age of egalitarianism, the Club has thrived as has its art collection that most small museums would trade their marble columns for. It boasts a curator, published catalog, docent-led tours and distinguished Art Society in charge of new acquisitions.” Read more: The Duquesne Club: An exclusive retreat for the corporate elite by Jean Horne

Another article Duquesne Club’s art has reflected the city’s power and history by Patricia Lowry has more about the art collection, the history and the architecture of the Duquesne Club.

A smaller archival print was purchased previously for the Archives of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh at Trinity Cathedral, which is directly across the street from the Duquesne Club. The Archives are open on Mondays and Thursdays from noon to 4:30, but people need to set an appointment for research. Call 412-232-6404 x 138. The Archives are located on the third floor of Trinity Cathedral, 328 Sixth Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh.

I first penned this drawing to add to my ink collection for a Black and White show curated by Kathleen Zimbicki.

My friend Pittsburgh artist Cynthia Cooley painted this piece for the Duquesne Club a while back.

Architecture soup…another silly ink drawing of Pittsburgh!

January 26, 2011

I recently learned people are interested in my drawing process so I am showing a progress drawing as well as the final drawing.

This is what the development of the drawing looks like at first. I keep the buildings on different layers of vellum and move them around until it looks interesting and unusual.

Then I finalize and ink the final drawing. It shows 6th Avenue Pittsburgh including Duquesne Club, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, Granite Building, EQT Plaza, K&L Gates Center, Wood St Galleries, Wood St. T Station

They are now available s prints in 3 sizes on archival textured paper.This is the process I go through to create another silly ink drawing. I draw all the individual buildings- and fool around with angle and scale of each until I can sense perspective but everything is off-kilter and silly. Then I add stuff going on in the streets.

This is one my favorite city blocks in Pittsburgh- Sixth Avenue between Smithfield and Liberty. I have studied this block, ever since first laying eyes on it. I absolutely love the architecture there. Pittsburgh History and Landmarks has lots of information about Pittsburgh and I often use their site and the Carnegie Library to find out more about my favorite Pittsburgh buildings.

How I got started in ink drawing. Ben and Jerry were just starting out in Burlington, VT when they encouraged me to make prints and sell my first silly ink drawing of Burlington, which had been on the wall of their first ice cream shop. This is the newest addition to the collection. I have done them in Pittsburgh, Boston and Stowe.

More about what’s in this drawing:

A whimsical drawing of Sixth Avenue in Pittsburgh. Cars, bikes, a bus, pedestrians and a kayak make their way up or down Sixth Avenue under the gaze of the Duquesne Club, Trinity Cathedral, First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, Granite Building, EQT Plaza, K&L Gates Center, Wood St Galleries and the Wood St. T Station.

In 2016 The Duquesne Club purchased a 22″ X 30″ print of this drawing from the me. The Duquesne Club was founded in 1873. The club’s present home, a Romanesque structure designed by Longfellow, Alden & Harlow on Sixth Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh, was opened in 1890; an addition designed by Janssen & Cocken that included a garden patio, barbershop, and new kitchens was constructed in 1931. The building achieved landmark status from the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation in 1976, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. The Club voted to admit women for the first time in its history in 1980.

The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh previously purchased 8 1/2 x 11″ prints for their archive and offices.