Drawn the Road Again

Author: Chandler O’Leary

  • Island paradise

    Island paradise

    One of the things I’ve been doing in my little metaphorical lighthouse lately is dream of sunny shores and road trips past. And my favorite place to remember right now is Santa Catalina Island—26 miles off the coast of southern California—which I visited a few years ago while researching my book. The centerpiece of Avalon,…

  • Points of light

    Points of light

    I wish I could remember where, but long ago I read some author’s opinion that lighthouses were mankind’s greatest invention, because they were entirely selfless in nature. That thought has stuck with me all these years, and it pops into my head every time I draw a lighthouse. The memory has occurred to me again…

  • Greetings from the Best Coast

    Greetings from the Best Coast

    Greetings from the [Quarantined] Coast! Hoping this finds you safe and well, and staying home to help “flatten the curve” of the virus that is suddenly everywhere at once. Here in Washington we’re sheltering in place—and as fate would have it, today I am celebrating (from home) the release date of my newest book! Greetings…

  • Today’s the day!

    Today’s the day!

    Today is the “book birthday” of The Best Coast: A Road Trip Atlas! After nearly three years of work and a solid decade of research, I can’t believe this day is here. I am so excited to share this labor of love with you, and I hope you’ll love it, too. With 99 hand-drawn maps,…

  • Liquid understory

    Liquid understory

    On my last big book research trip up the West Coast, I finally had the chance to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Of course, it was everything it was hyped up to be and more—I loved watching the sea otters at feeding time, being mesmerized by the jellyfish exhibits, even learning about the building’s past…

  • Fields of gold (or pink, or orange…)

    Fields of gold (or pink, or orange…)

    Obviously I have a thing for standing in a field carpeted with flowers and busting out the ol’ watercolors—because not only does it crop up (no pun intended) again and again on this blog… …but it’s also a recurring theme in my new book. The fun part, of course, was traveling to all these flowery…

  • Beachcomber’s sketchbook

    Beachcomber’s sketchbook

    Just over a year ago, the Tailor and I met a couple of good friends for a long weekend on the Oregon Coast. Our friends live in San Francisco, so Lincoln City was almost exactly the midpoint between us. And besides, we had an ulterior motive: we wanted to search the beaches for hidden treasure.…

  • You’re gonna need a bigger boat

    You’re gonna need a bigger boat

    Towards the end of the design process for my new book, the design team at Sasquatch Books and I were putting together all the odds and ends that make up the cover, both inside and out (you’ll find a behind-the-scenes look at the front cover on my studio blog). One of the last elements to…

  • The Best Coast

    The Best Coast

    While I’ve hinted at this several times on social media, and even shown some snippets of my process along the way, mostly I’ve been sitting on my hands lately, trying my best to keep mum while I wait for time to tick by. And now the waiting is almost over, and it’s time for the…

  • Rec-ommended

    Rec-ommended

    This post is part of an ongoing series called 66 Fridays, which explores the wonders of old Route 66. Click on the preceding “66 Fridays” link to view all posts in the series, or visit the initial overview post here. This beauty has stood proud over Sunset Boulevard since 1924, once advertising a bowling alley…