Category: Built to Last

Sea shantiesSalmon Beach, Tacoma, WA

Salmon Beach sketch by Chandler O'Leary

Salmon Beach might just be the best-kept secret on Puget Sound. I’d been dying to do a sketch there, and I finally got my chance a few weeks ago. The entire area is private property, and only residents and their guests are allowed. But my friend Ethan lives there, so I asked if he’d be… More

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Giddy up, IchabodCornish-Winsor bridge, Cornish, NH

Covered bridge sketch by Chandler O'Leary

I have a thing for covered bridges—and thankfully, many other people do, too. That means the communities that possess these relics work hard to preserve them, and I’m grateful that there are still covered bridges for me to sketch. And each one is so wonderfully sketch-able, because they’re all so different. The Cornish-Winsor Bridge, which… More

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King of the (urban) jungleLeo Astor or "Patience," New York Public Library

NY Public Library lion sketch by Chandler O'Leary

It’s hard to imagine that the Library Lions were ever unpopular (but they were—the public thought they were “squash-faced” and “mealy-mouthed” when they were unveiled over a century ago). I can’t think of a better symbol for the City. No matter how many times I’ve found myself in New York over the years, I always… More

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Desert oasisHotel El Capitan, Van Horn, TX

Texas hotel sketch by Chandler O'Leary

This place really felt like an oasis, after driving for over sixteen hours—the last three in a raging West-Texas lightning storm—to get here. When the Tailor and I pulled in after one in the morning (an interesting quirk about Van Horn, TX: it’s lies about one mile inside the Central time zone, so we lost… More

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On a missionMission San Juan Bautista, CA

Mission San Juan Bautista sketch by Chandler O'Leary

Someday I’ll get to all 21 missions along El Camino Real, but for my first-ever mission visit, I had to choose a starting point. Who wouldn’t pick the one used in an Alfred Hitchcock film? And one starring Jimmy Stewart, no less! I mean, come on. Though you’d never know it from the sun and… More

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Crack of dawnSan Juan Bautista, CA

Sunrise sketch by Chandler O'Leary

Hitting the road two hours before sunup is never exactly my favorite way to travel. But with a cup of strong coffee, some loud sing-along music on the stereo, and a worthy goal to shoot for… …it can be well worth the effort.

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