William C Harrison pen & ink buy cityscape "Bar Harbor" 1981 Realism US Dealer

William C. Harrison Cityscapes Capture Excitement in Black and White

Capturing the full impact of a scene, working in black and white is generally thought of as a photographic skill. William C. Harrison of Portland, Maine had made his reputation doing it with pen and ink. His use of fine lines, dots and textures produces intensity of light and shadow which gives the distinct impression of color on color. This ability is used with great effect in Harrison's panoramic cityscapes. Each drawing takes up to 200 hours to complete, though Harrison use to say, "I'm really working all the time."

Harrison, or "bil" as he sometimes signed his name, was born in Chesapeake, Virginia, in 1944. He had been a commercial success since the age of three when his grandfather paid him 25 cents an hour to draw anything he wanted, just so long as he drew something. This led eventually to six years of formal art training in oil, acrylic, watercolor, and pen and ink. His closely rendered style is largely self-taught, however, and developed out from his 10 years of experience. "No matter what I'm doing, I'm always looking for that perfect view, the right light, the important detail. You could say that each drawing took all my life to do," he would say.

After he decided to do a particular scene, Harrison would spend hours choosing just the right angle. "Every town has a vantage point from which you can see its whole personality. That's what I look for," he'd say. He worked from photographs, and would take up to 150 color shots in order to find that one "just right" view.

Why color photography and not black and white? Because Harrison achieved a dimension in his work that few others did by translating directly from color to black and white. Harrison had a photographic eye and worked in meticulous detail, leaving nothing out. "It's the opposite of impressionism, I try to capture what the eye sees."

His work has appeared nationally in such publications as Better Homes and Gardens, The New Yorker, Field and Stream, and Wooden Boat. His technical understanding of printing led him to adapt his technique so prints of his work reproduce like the originals. Prints of Harrison's Cityscapes are signed, limited editions, and his originals are in demand. Some limited edition buy prints have sold out, and are now sought by collectors. He was once determined to do at least one cityscape in each of the 50 States. Then he wanted to do the capital cites of Europe. And then? He would give a grin out through his beard, "And then, there's always the rest of the world."