Author Archives: Chandler O'Leary

Travel checklist

I love hanging out with other travel bloggers—sometimes it’s just fun to know I’m not the only one closely studying my surroundings. Last year I took a road trip with my friend Mary-Alice of Dog Jaunt fame (with her lovely pup Chloe in tow). When we arrived at our hotel that day, we both did the whole travel-blogger thing: jotted down notes, snapped off phone photos, made a mental checklist of all the good points. Except the hilarious thing was that we were out to “review” completely different things. Since M-A blogs about traveling with a pet in tow, this was probably what her checklist looked like:

• pet-friendly policies
• clean, accessible rooms
• easy access to walkies outside

You know, things like that. My list of hotel highlights that day?

• squashy chairs for ease of sketching
• big airy lobby with lots of architectural details
• weird door knockers shaped like hands
• even weirder lamps with taloned bird feet
• cabinets containing taxidermy

Because, well, somebody else (besides me) might be looking for those things in a hotel. Right?

Night and day

Speaking of neon signs, this might not be a sketchbook post, but I figured it wasn’t too far off-topic. For those of you who might find yourselves in the Pacific Northwest this year, I’ve got a solo exhibit opening tomorrow, right here on my home turf. The show is called You’ll Like Tacoma, and features 16 new illustrations, depicting electric signs of Tacoma’s past—all arranged as day-and-night diptychs. The opening reception is tomorrow evening, but the show will be up through the end of June. Here are the details:

You’ll Like Tacoma
On display through June 30, 2014
Brooks Dental Studio (yes, it’s a dentist office that doubles as a gallery! How cool is that?!)
732 Broadway, Tacoma, WA 98402
Opening reception Thursday, January 16, 5 to 7 pm

Hope to see you there!

Great Googie Moogly

Yep, there’s actually a term for this retro style, for all those midcentury space-age motels, drive-ins, what have you: Googie Architecture. There are a zillion examples out there, and the possibilities are seemingly endless, but one thing is for certain: you know it when you see it. And in terms of Googie style, Route 66 might as well be the road to Mecca.

Life, illustrated

The Tailor and I took a road trip over the holidays to visit his family and friends in the Midwest. And while we had the chance to see plenty of roadside attractions along the way, the real purpose of the trip was to reconnect with the people from his past. I had met most everyone we saw before, either at our wedding or on a similar trip we took five years ago—and this time I wanted to get to know them better. So nearly every time we stopped for a visit somewhere, I asked our hosts to share photos and stories from their past, while the Tailor reminisced about his own. I’m so glad I did; the experience seemed to … well, complete the picture for me somehow.

Paul’s flaxen frére

Oh, you didn’t know Paul Bunyan had a brother (from another mother)? Well, neither did I. But thankfully my proud K State alumni friends, who know the “Little Apple” better than anyone, set the record straight for me.

I give you Johnny Kaw—the frontier’s biggest pioneer. Let Paul handle the trees up nort’—Johnny’s got his hands full plowin’ fields and tamin’ tornadoes.

Cold snap

I had to do this drawing in five-minute intervals—I kept running inside a nearby coffee shop to warm up my hands. It’s maybe not the most efficient way to sketch, but it’ll get the job done in a pinch.

Get a shovel

I don’t know about you, but I’m always tempted to let my New Year’s resolutions pile up as high as the snowbanks at Mt. Rainier. Of course, it’s much harder to fulfill them than make them, but I know there’s at least one that I’ll have no problem keeping:

Just keep sketching.

Tabula rasa

We don’t get a lot of snow in my part of Washington. So if I want to see winter weather, I usually have to do some traveling first. I always seem to feel this urge right around now, the first of the year. Maybe it’s just the white of the snow—or the hush of winter—but something about a crisp winter day feels like a blank slate.

Here’s to a fresh start—or if you’re like me, a blank page in a brand new sketchbook. Happy new year!

Sea to shining sea

With all the travel and sketching this year held, it’s hard to believe it’s still 2013. This year gave me 62 days out of town (a new record!) and many dozens of drawings—and best of all, brought me to both coasts. And while it feels a little like a blur when I look back on the year as a whole, I love how sketching helps keep so many individual memories intact. That’ll come in handy, as it’ll be time to start filling 2014’s sketchbooks any time now.

I can’t wait to see what those pages will hold!

Winter plain

We’re celebrating the winter break this year with a road trip to the Plains states. And while I normally love a white Christmas as much as anybody—I must admit that brown is a little more conducive to driving cross-country.

Keep your fingers crossed for me, won’t you?