Impressions of Vancouver

[Guest Post by Jose de Juan in Vancouver] After living in the UK for a couple of years I moved to Vancouver for work. Where London was a sketcher’s paradise with its variety of people, public transport, and monuments, Vancouver seemed a bit void of texture by comparison. But with some time to explore, its urban beauty reared its head as it often does if one keeps the eyes open. I arrived in late Spring.

The abundance of small community gardens becomes apparent at this time. These are riotous patches of blooms and vegetables, haphazardly strewn in odd places like abandoned train tracks, public parks, street corners. They are often filled not only with poppies and cabbages but with their busy keepers at work. So naturally, I got to work!

The Red Haired Gardener

In my experience, sketching with watercolors is really about collecting happy accidents. I try to be spontaneous and capture the reasons a place or scene made me pause. May be it was the light, a gesture, in short: the idea, I think my best sketches are those where the idea prevails, not necessarily a precise record of every nook and cranny – details are rarely what attract me.

Vancouver Roofline

It takes me between 15 minutes to an hour to do a sketch. If I go longer or fuss a lot , it usually means I hadn’t quite digested what I wanted to express. I’ve gathered quite a collection over the years. And I like how my notebooks seem to store and trigger the memories and moments better than any diary could. I carry around my Moleskine or Fabriano watercolor notebook, a small foldable watercolor palette, a plastic bottle of water, some pencils, water pens and often sometimes a small foldable stool.

The Work Party

Jose de Juan finds constant inspiration in the city and its surroundings. He hopes his work finds an echo in the viewer’s own search for beauty in everyday’s blur. You can view more of his work here on his website.