Welcome to Cityhopper Studios!
Welcome to Cityhopper Studios!
I'm Erin Auses, Owner & Artist. I specialize in pen & ink architectural portraits and custom gifts.
While I'm still working on the new website, I wanted to share a little bit about the origins of Cityhopper and my passion for pen & ink illustration and art, in general.
I first began to hone my pen & ink architectural portrait skills in college. In the summers between my school years at Tulane University's School of Architecture, I worked for the Historic American Engineering Record, a division of the Department of the Interior that worked to document historic sites and structures of engineering significance throughout the United States. Over 3 summers, I documented the seismic retrofitting of City Beautiful Movement era bridges over the Los Angeles River, the construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct and a steam engine factory where Henry Ford apprenticed in Downtown Detroit and all the drawings are now part of the Library of Congress' Photos & Drawings Collection.
Los Angeles River Bridges Recording Project - North Spring Street Bridge
Throughout the years, I continued to draw portraits in pen & ink, focusing on rendering techniques such as shading, cross-hatching, stippling and line work to bring my building designs to life. And, when I began to plan my wedding, I knew I wanted to incorporate my & my future husband's love of buildings & architecture into the celebration.
The theme for the wedding became 'Places We Love" and I got to work on documenting all the places we've lived, worked and visited together. In total, I created 40 pen & ink portraits of sites and structures significan't to us and the history of our relationship. I then incorporated the drawings into all of our papers, from invitations and RSVP's to paper luminary centerpieces and personalized name/place cards for our guests. It was a unique way to infuse ourselves into the event and tell our story.
Wedding Papers - (Clockwise from top left) guest name/place cards, invitation, program, Smiley Face cookie favor sticker, pre-wedding picnic invitation, RSVP, Save the Date magnet
A few years later, a friend was beginning to learn letterpress and she needed content to experiment with. She immediately thought of me and began using my landmarks drawings to learn the artform. Eventually, she started her own company, Cardamom Press, and we began to collaborate on a series of city-themed cards and prints. We developed a set for Pittsburgh, Seattle and Chicago.
Pittsburgh Landmarks Card Set
Chicago Landmarks Card Set
Seattle Landmarks Card Set
There's a whole bit I'm skipping about how a brain injury threw a wrench in the works, but we'll save that for another blog post!
When Cardamom Press closed up shop, I decided to continue the City Series on my own under the Cityhopper Studios name. I traveled to New York City & Washington, D.C. to photograph for my first solo sets of landmark cards & prints. Throughout the evolution of Cityhopper, my drawing skills vastly improved and I challenged myself to expand my drawings from 8" x 10" to 11" x 14" in order to get better line weight definition & a higher level of detail and I was very happy with the results.
