Whoa, I draw too? Part I

Whenever I travel I tend to draw. While in Europe this generally fell to the wayside in favour of singing - my creative energies being... limited. I also decided send many of my drawings via mail so my photographs are of subpar quality but feh, I feel like I'm always apologizing for low quality - they are what they are. I grayscaled them all, though most were all originally on paper of other colours (as befits my obsession with fine stationary) because I felt like it. Yea.


From the magical hostel in Stamsund looking south over the little harbor into which I could take Roar's rowboat, on a misty day. The lighthouse in the distance is approximately where I drew the next one.
Day: Sustained by Surplus, Sun, and Songs in Stamsund, Part III


I drew this sitting on a rocky promontory looking back towards the Norwegian mainland. Bright, hot for Norway, no one about, the end of a gorgeous day.
Day: Sustained by Surplus, Sun, and Songs in Stamsund, Part IV


The day after my magical night singing on the Charles Bridge in Prague I was intent on drawing Frank Gehry's Dancing House (Fred & Ginger) building. Not because I particularly admire the building, but rather because Jess once sent me a postcard of it and I thought it'd be cute to return the favour in pen and ink - incidentally the only thing I drew with this trip.
Day: Czeching Praguematically for Police, Day 3


This was the product of my sychronicitous night in Krakow, drawing by the soft lights of Rynek and the light of a very bright sunset colored moon. A small group of girls joined me and we ended up playing a bit of music there near eleven at night. I added the moon, in the wrong location, at the most admiring one's behest.
Day: Busking at the Kraków Dawn (Ok, Night), Day 3


Architect Mimar Sinan's self-declared masterpiece, the Selimiye Cami in Edirne. A dome with a greater span than that of the Aya Sofya, incredible minarets, astonishing tilework, etc. I drew this my second day in Turkey, feeling unwell and hiding from the intense heat by remaining inside and drawing through two prayer times. I learned the Turkish hand motion for excellence from on-lookers.
Day: Edirne-ly missing America, Day 1


A little cartoon I drew for the kindly middle aged man who helped me get to Kadıköy, İstanbul. I wanted to illustrate that I needed to meet up with a friend - beneath a large flag at a bus station (which actually was a boat station. whoops). I'm particularly proud of my self-likeness.
Day: Incapacitated in İstanbul, Day 1


The view across the Bosphorus to the European side in the afternoon light. I sketched this quickly to pass some time while waiting for Murat. The large building is the Haydarpaşa Terminal, the terminus of all lines from Asia.
Day: Incapacitated in İstanbul, Day 1


The beginnings of a sketch of the Baghdad Kiosk in Topkapı Sarayı. A classical music concert (four piece) was setting up for a televised broadcast, and the shutting off of the area shortly after I began stopped my progress abruptly.
Day: Incapacitated in İstanbul, Day 1.5


This drawing elicited an amusing exchange with a Turkish man who couldn't understand why I didn't simply take a photograph. Topkapı Sarayı was nearly emptied of tourists by now, in the early evening. A soft breeze and cooler temperatures with perfect shadows.
Day: Incapacitated in İstanbul, Day 1.5


The inner court of Topkapı Sarayı closed not long before sundown. I'd planned my wandering within so that I'd saved the outside bits for last, to maximize my twenty lira ticket's value. I knew I couldn't capture the amazing detail of the Imperial Council Hall's canopy, so I drew the exterior, facing the inner gate. In the time I drew no more than three other groups passed through the huge courtyard - all locals. Near silence, surprising amounts of wildlife, cool lighting. As earlier I was asked to leave not long after I began so they could close the outer sanctum, too.
Day: Incapacitated in İstanbul, Day 1.5


This mosque, Yeni Cami overlooks the boat terminus on the European side at Eminönü. I came here to draw mostly as an escape from the rain and the closed attractions. I sat on the side of the north-south (ish as the mosque is of course oriented towards mecca) axis, with both windows open and gusting damp air at me. The detail in the blue tiling was absolutely remarkable.
Day: Incapacitated in İstanbul, Day 2


A quick sketch of the mihrab in the Şehzade Cami on my harrowing trek through the more western bits of İstanbul. I hadn't the energy to make a full rendering of the space (which wasn't particularly remarkable) and by the time I got to Sultan Selim Cami I made nothing more than a quickly felt contour drawing.
Day: Incapacitated in İstanbul, Day 2