Drawn the Road Again

Author: Chandler O’Leary

  • The road less traveled

    The road less traveled

    Since I’ve got a road theme going this week, I thought I’d spend the next couple of posts highlighting some of my very favorite squiggly lines on the map. Everyone seems to have California Highway One at the top of their road trip bucket list (for good reason!), but FM170 in West Texas deserves to…

  • The road ahead

    The road ahead

    Tomorrow this little travel blog turns one year old. In that time, I’ve jumped around in time and place, in hopes of showing you as many different sketches as I could: country scenes, cityscapes, vintage kitsch, wildlife, you name it. But while I love me some roadside attractions, I must confess that my very favorite…

  • Summer haze

    Summer haze

    Right around the Fourth of July, it’s like someone flips a switch around here, and the dry season begins. Then the stereotypical Northwest rain goes away, and nearly every day is clear, dry and balmy. You can bet that this is when I do the most sketching around my town—and you can probably guess what…

  • Secrets, seastars and spring tide

    Secrets, seastars and spring tide

    There was one other time that my sketching had the benefit of a supermoon. Last summer I spent a morning with some fellow sketchers under the ferry landing in Edmonds, WA. This is one of a few spots along Puget Sound where the tide goes out far enough to expose more than just a strip…

  • Super moonrise

    Super moonrise

    I had other plans for today’s post, but I had a surprise on Saturday evening that changed all of that. I spent the day on the Oregon coast, and arrived on the home stretch just as the last light was fading. As I neared the Nisqually Delta, I looked east out of habit, where I…

  • Pink pachyderm

    Pink pachyderm

    If the Yoken’s whale is the queen of the east coast’s Route 1, then the Elephant Carwash sign surely must rule Highway 99 in the west. The restaurant inside the Space Needle can eat its heart out—this jumbo gal is my favorite spinning landmark in the Emerald City.

  • Spurred to sketch

    Spurred to sketch

    I really have no idea why this sign isn’t where it’s supposed to be (in Durango, CO), and why we stumbled upon it at Hole n’ the Rock instead. But since Durango wasn’t on the list for that trip, and I never would have made this sketch otherwise, you won’t find me complaining!

  • Five-star shop

    Five-star shop

    As far as I’m concerned, supermarkets might as well not exist. The only kind of grocery store I’ll ever want is the kind with a good old vintage sign and a little bit of tasty typography.

  • Sweet memories

    Sweet memories

    Speaking of Philadelphia on the Fourth of July, it’s been three years since I had the best sundae of my life at the Franklin Fountain—but I can still taste it like it’s right in front of me. Hope your holiday today is filled with summer heat and sweet treats!

  • Colonial colors

    Colonial colors

    Three years ago I got to see Philly all decked out for the Fourth of July—what better place to spend the holiday than the city that gave it to us in the first place? To everyone reading in Philadelphia, and all over the U.S. this week: happy Independence Day!