The three of us itching to have a little adventure, we decided to ride the rails to Vancouver, BC in May. There was no shortage of points of interests on our lists: we visited the Vancouver Art Gallery, Stanley Park, Granville Island, and the Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden before walking from there back to the grand Pacific Central Station for our swift return to Edmonds, WA. Sketching the sights was not the main aim of this trip, so while we each did a bit of it while in Vancouver, here are three finished pen, ink and watercolor sketches completed after we returned home:
The iconic Sylvia Hotel at the edge of Stanley Park was where we lodged. Not only that, but it was an early childhood home of one of our members! Her father was a toddler while living here when the Sylvia was an apartment building. And it was this member who was the one courageous enough to draw it.
After we finished a general tour of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden we took a few photos and then headed out into Chinatown to find a lunch spot. Once home, I focused on this one building in the series of structures that created the enclosed courtyard. In all of our sketches, the main challenge was what to render and what to merely suggest.

Leave a comment