Sketchbook 14 : Vancouver in Watercolor

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Some cities write themselves in pencil, others in ink. Vancouver, with its perpetual mist and sudden bursts of clarity, demands watercolor. Between rainy days and rare moments of sunshine, my brush has been chasing stories - some real, some imagined, all somehow true to this strange and beautiful place.

Chasing Light

Today brought an unexpected gift - sunlight. I found myself at the Vancouver Art Gallery, officially procrastinating, unofficially collecting moments. Strange how we sometimes need to escape art to make art.

The Daily Dance with Boredom

My horoscope predicted an ongoing battle with boredom. So I painted it - a fighter whose greatest opponent is the mundane, throwing halfhearted punches at the void. Sometimes the most interesting art comes from being spectacularly uninterested.

Into the Woods

A series of forest tales emerged from my brush:

A man wearing animal hide, playing at disappearing

An imaginary beast that might live between the trees

A fantastic tiger, sharing space with a woman who isn't afraid These woods aren't Vancouver's woods, exactly, but they carry whispers of Stanley Park's shadows.

Odes to Laziness

Lately, laziness has become both muse and nemesis. I painted it as a creature dragging down its victim, then as a contentedly sleeping panda. Perhaps there's wisdom in this resistance to constant motion. After all, doesn't art require stillness sometimes?

Intimate Moments

A woman redressing, caught in that private moment of transformation. It's these quiet, human moments that my brush seems to find between the fantastic beasts and forest spirits.

Caffeinated Dreams

"My baby does the hanky panky!" The coffee kicked in, and out came a fantasy owl, dancing between reality and that peculiar space that caffeine creates in your mind.

  

Festival Aftermath

Post-Squamish Valley Music Festival, when even lifting a brush feels like an epic task, random doodles become meditation. Sometimes the best art comes when you're too tired to try too hard. 

Notes from the Palette

• Light in Vancouver is precious - it changes how you see color
• Boredom and laziness can be surprisingly productive muses
• The line between reality and fantasy blurs in watercolor
• Music festivals leave echoes that your brush somehow finds
• Sometimes the best artistic practice is simply showing up, even when your body protests

Between moments of sunlight and stretches of gray, these pages hold both the real and surreal sides of Vancouver.

Until next time, keep your brushes wet and your imagination wilder. Share your own watercolor tales:  Instagram | X