Doug Cooper

"Early Morning Arrivals"   36" x 48"  charcoal on paper on panel  2012

"Before and After the Cranes"   36" x 48"  charcoal on paper on panel  2012

"Game Night 2"  2008

Carnegie Mellon University Center Mural - 1996  "View of Carnegie Mellon's Gesling Stadium"

"Harbor Island"  49" x 97"   charcoal on paper on panel    2011

Doug Cooper is a professor at Caregie Mellon's school of architecture, the author of two books on drawing, and oh yeah, an artist. His work is on a huge scale; drawing sometimes 4 feet by 8 feet wide or actual murals. They are usually scenes of cities, distorted through a fish-eye lens of memory and history. He seems to especially revel in the verticality of places. Bridges and hills feature prominently creating layers of space. Highways twist and turn through neighborhoods passing over railways all resembling arteries and veins in a body politic. There is a decidedly romantic air to these images of proud industrialization that seems reminiscent of mid-twentieth century Americana. And this is probably no accident. In some of his murals he actually incorporates drawings and memories from a city's elderly citizens so that much of what you see reflects exactly that era. But regardless, one cannot help be awed by the omniscient eye of the artist as he floats above the bustling urban sprawl taking in closeup details and vast horizons with equal import and clarity.

The last image above "Harbor Island" is the largest file I could find if you'd like to view one a bit bigger. Beyond that you'll just have to go find an original somewhere.
you can see more images at: www.andrew.cmu.edu
and some work from a recent show in and of Seattle at: www.davidsongalleries.com