Last of Lonsdale

It took a year, but I got through all 37 blocks of Lonsdale.  The last five were a mix: 2 older mixed-business blocks, one dull grey new building on a dull grey day, the view up the street from the very lower end (a year ago I would have drawn the view of the ocean and Vancouver, but that has been replaced by the steel frame of a new gallery building), and even a bear (a bronze one, but life size and claiming the entire territory of the block where 8th and 11th Streets unaccountably converge at Lonsdale).

I had a lot of sunny days during the project (by choice), quite a few dull grey ones with rain threatening, a few days where I had to shelter in cafes or, once, my car, and one day standing in a bit of snow.  When you put your mind to it, you can create a lot of opportunities for one or two hour drawing sessions if it doesn't take a lot of travel time.  I really enjoyed the blocks where a mix of buildings and businesses have developed naturally over time, I got tired of the residential blocks that are mostly one big hedge, and really struggled with the new characterless condominium blocks (There must be a cut-and-paste feature on the Autocad program architects use).  I also liked the "oddball" places - the arboreteum, the public space outside the art gallery, Victoria park on a summer afternoon, the bear.  I drew about 10% of the cars that were in my view, and never did get the hang of them.  I learned to carry noise-canceling headphones for the endless huge pickup trucks roaring up the hill (Is there a reason that big pick-ups can't have good mufflers?)  But I came to appreciate the bus stops - convenient places to sit, most of them sheltered but still open to the view - and also the (few) other public benches, mostly on lower Lonsdale.  There are remarkably few people walking on most blocks and many people studiously avoid any kind of eye contact (perhaps my paint brush looks threatening?), but I did meet several nice people and a fair numbers of eccentrics.  A lot of people who talked to me were recent immigrants, perhaps because they come from places where there really are threatening people and they've learned to differentiate.  And I figured out why some people actively glared at me - twice people came up to me aggressively as I drew in my little black Moleskine book, standing by the curb in my blue cycling jacket and baseball cap, and said words to the effect of "Why are you writing me a parking ticket, I didn't do anything wrong."  I'll have to switch to an artsy striped shirt and beret, or perhaps wear a sign saying "I am not a bylaw enforcement officer"...

Lonsdale seven

I started drawing the 37 blocks of Lonsdale almost a year ago.  When I realized that a week ago, I decided to finish before the year was up.  The problem was that I had 12 blocks to go and only 2 weeks.  So I brought out that one trick urban-sketchers always come back to - draw faster!  For me, that means using a cartridge pen with water-soluble ink, so I can't be so fiddly with the lines and the paint.  I either have to be quick and loose, or make a big black blob.  I picked 7 of the remaining blocks randomly, but then cheated a bit and did them in order from top to bottom, so I didn't have to ride up and down the hill too often!  I tried to do all 7 in one afternoon as 15 minute sketches, but the weather and my tendency to put too much into each drawing meant that I got 4 done, and had to come back for the rest.

I'm finished with what I think of as "hedge blocks" - residential areas at the top of Lonsdale that barricade themselves from the roaring pick-up trucks with a lot of coniferness.  I can't say those were my favourite places, but there was sometimes a nice view of the city.  I may also be done with the blocks that feature vintage condo buildings from Vancouver's historical Leaky Condo era of a decade or two ago.  Not too sad to see those done, either.  But I did get to do a couple retail blocks that still have the mix of independent restaurants and family businesses.  They have been formed by evolution over the years, and are a lot more appealing - and populated - than the Lower Lonsdale block I drew with its carefully designed and controlled development of condos with street-level store fronts - actually, real estate offices and "beauty spas" with no customers.

Now, 5 blocks to do in 6 days.

Simply Drawing show and sale

The second annual Simply Drawing life drawing exhibition and sale is coming - Friday June 24, 6-9pm at Sandrine Pelissier's studio, 125 Garden St, North Vancouver (where W.1st St. turns up to Welch Street along the industrial waterfront West of Pemberton St).  Start saving your pennies!  Or whatever it is that we save now.  Besides framed work, there will also be tables of drawings and painting sketches for sale, cheap cheap cheap, and good!  A few of mine from the $20 or less bin are below.  I also have one framed one on the wall, but I forgot to take a picture of it, so you will have to come see it in person.

Seawall postcards

Lea and Davie, social gurus of the Urbansketchers, organized a ride-and-draw around the Vancouver seawall, from Lost Lagoon to Vanier Park in Kitsilano. It was a good reminder of how wonderful the seawall is, and I was like a tourist in my own city.  I could have done hundreds of drawings along the way, but, being a tourist, I did 8 quick postcard views instead.  I'll have to go back for all the funky little things that I skipped, and to complete the trip, since I only did half the seawall before I had to go.

Springtime at the Diddle Inn

The cabins on Hollyburn Ridge have some great names - the WeeSki Inn, the Alasker Inn, the Taj Mahollyburn, many others.  The Diddle Inn is the cabin of Jackie Swanson, who just retired as president of the Hollyburn Ridge Association.  This is no picnic-in-the-park position.  It involves negotiating with the West Vancouver council to keep the historic community alive and thriving, figuring out permit and lease agreements, getting heritage status for the area, dealing with all sorts of practical and political issues, and keeping the diversely eccentric association members happy.  Jackie did a truly amazing job.  I was asked to paint a picture as a thank you from the board and the association.  I did a fairly big (for me) pen-and-watercolour picture of her cabin nestled into the forest.  (Those trees are supposed to look nestling, not like they are leaning over and about to fall on the cabin...)  The good thing about drawing the Hollyburn cabins is that if your drawing goes a bit wonky, it just looks that much more realistic.

Four more Lonsdale

Four more Lonsdale blocks, two hurried, two more relaxed.  The block of Lonsdale above Queens is busy but pleasant, with a bustling independent grocery store.  No time to linger, though, as black clouds piled up ominously into a spring storm.  The first drops fell just as I finished, and I was soaked by the time I rode home down the hill.  But no harm done, because I obeyed the only real rule of outdoor sketching: always carry your sketchbook in a ziplock bag.  Everything else is optional.

The next block was also done in a hurry, this time because of basic survival.  Lonsdale just above the Upper Levels Highway is a horrible, loud, grey, stinky efflux of vehicles trying to get onto or off of the highway that leads to the perpetual traffic jam at the Second Narrows Bridge.  I gave the drawing 30 minutes - pretty much all I could stand physically.  The few people walking by had their fists and jaws clenched as if they were going into battle, but, remarkably for this area, a couple people did stop to talk to me.  Both of them complained about the traffic.

Not far below the highway, the block above 21st is far more peaceful, with a quiet park outside the very under-appreciated Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art.  Eight large red cast statues of crouching monk-like Chinese businessmen once graced a G8 meeting, with an intriguingly ambiguous message.  Now the one that I assume represents Russia has been sent off to a corner by itself.  However, the current geopolitical situation wasn't too important to the two little girls who were climbing the statues.

And down at the bottom of the street, Lonsdale above 2nd St. is a quiet place, with the star attraction being the Salvation Army Thrift Shop.  I had a nice seat for drawing and was just underway, when a City truck parked right in front of me.  This is one of the banes of urban-sketching.  But the driver saw me, said sorry, and moved his truck up the street out of my way.  That's a first for any vehicle, and makes me feel much happier about paying my property taxes.

In tropical Edmonton

I had a few days in Edmonton, where it was 50 degrees (C) warmer than the last time I was there.  It was almost tropical feeling, with all the flowering trees flowering at once, including fragrant mock orange, hawthorn and many crabapples.  Everyone was out in their minimalest clothing, patios were full, and the often aggressive vibe of Whyte Avenue was much more relaxed.  I even had some time between meetings to draw on the University of Alberta campus, which never happens.  As the week went on, this as-pleasant-as-it-gets scene became an ever-stranger contrast to the devastating fire and evacuation in Fort McMurray, the next city up the road (although 400km away in the dense, dry boreal forest).  But the only direct evidence of that disaster was the extra long line-ups at the Edmonton airport, where many evacuees were heading home to other parts of Canada or to second houses in the south, and the long lines of dog cages being loaded on to their planes.