JQ's Sketchblog

When I first walked through Akureyri, I noticed a complete lack of bees. The next day, I finally found them all: at the Botanical Garden. ^_^ It's a beautiful garden to stroll through… there's a central area with mecanopsis flowers that's lovely to walk through. I chose this little bridge area to draw that some kids were having fun running around.

Apparently, Akureyri is Iceland's second biggest city outside the country's southwest cities, but it's really small that I familiarized with getting around extremely quickly, including downtown, the mall, hiking the Glerá river, hospital, and university. One of my favorite things here is the traffic lights: red hearts ❤️ for stop. The sun never set in Akureyri while I was there, so I took a midnight stroll around the well-lit empty town as well, passing by the church a few times. Stepped in as well, which was quite nice!

Completed in 1885, it's one of the largest cathedrals in Norway. I loved the vines hanging on one side of the church. I regret not stepping in... overheard later that an organist was playing the pipe organs at the time, so I missed out on that.

Norges Bank Kristiansand, Norway Just a building that caught my eye. It's been around since the end of the 19th-century. The construction about also made it of compositional interest to me. Did a lot of exploring downtown while here. Was quite warm when I visited. Would love to visit this city again in the future!

A bridge I crossed in the city. Not far from here, you could see some jellyfish in the water!! And I had not learned from my mistake from Flåm… missed another opportunity to a Viking village of Bukkøy. It wasn't far, but had no idea they closed mid-afternoon, sigh. Still, the town was beautiful to walk around, and I took a nice nap at Byparken. Just means I'll have to revisit in the near future!

I screwed up by not realizing how far Njardarheimr (the Viking village) was... you have to take a tram there (and it's a long journey) and sadly, I didn't have the time to make that trek.

A portrait I sketched live of a lovely and talented friend I made on the Jewel of the Seas

Arbeiderforeningen (The Worker's Union) Ålesund, Norway It was extremely hard to choose what to draw to represent Ålesund, a very scenic city, notable for its art nouveau architecture throughout, with a Scandinavian flare. Ultimately, I picked this spot to represent that; built in 1887, from what I understand, this building now runs social and cultural activities. If you ever visit, you must go up the Aksla Viewpoint for a gorgeous overview of the city. I did a little urban exploration in the creepy tunnels nearby there.

#urbansketch #travelblog #travelblogger #travelblogger #kunst #europa #europe #european #norwegian #drawing #norsk #pentelbrushpen #pentelpocketbrush #brushpen #pentel #inktober #dessin #dibujo #tegning #zeichnung #arstagram #instaart

Honningsvåg, Norway My contenders for this page was the church and cemetary, the towering wooden racks drying fish, or this cute natural stream leading to a fountain/well you could drink from (the water was delicious!). But this dark man-made tunnel at the side of the hill, was a curiosity. I still have no idea what it is for (someone weigh in?). I'd see (and explored) others like this later in Ålesund. As I walked in, I nervously wondered if the troll legends were true, and if I'd be eaten by one. It was small and dilapidated with overgrowing moss, with some signs of life: a stool, shovel, broken ladder, and beer bottles. Seemed like a good hangout spot!

I walked a lot in Molde. Some of you might remember seeing my Insta Stories, where I rescued a lil' bumblebee here. ^_^ There are some remarkable architectural sights I considered to draw: the church (visible in the background), the Romsdal museum, and the theater (Teatret Vårt, where you climb up to a gorgeous view of the town). By the museum is a stunning lake. Ultimately, I picked this shopping square area, where behind this vantage point is a dock overseeing a fjord ... apparently it was reconstructed, and only a few years old.

After a trip to Norway (up next!), I rounded back to Amsterdam briefly before heading for the last leg of my journey, and rested on a bench looking over the Amstel, just past Rembrandt's house and Waterlooplein market, and by absolute mere random serendipitous happenstance, was in the next meeting spot of Amsterdam's Urban Sketchers. Thinking to be out briefly, I'd left my sketchbook and instruments, but the group were so lovely to welcome me, and Saskia and Bou Kje lent me their supplies. Afterward, we admired each others work at Amstelhoeck cafe!

Zaanse Schans Zaandam, Netherlands The village with clothes lines, and small shops between rivers; windmills (one of which I climbed up!), sheep and birds (esp. the jackdaws, that make incredibly cute sounds!)... this place looked like out of a fairy tale! My sister and I explored as much as we could here.

For an American like me, it was weird enough to experience live music in a 1500s maze-like bastion (The Moritzbastei) in Leipzig. Then in The Hague, seeing post-punk and goth bands for Grauzone Festival in a mid-1600s church, not for just its gorgeous interior decor and lovely acoustics, but particularly with the idea of it being older than my own country's establishment - was hard for me to comprehend.

One of the venues I'd go to see bands during Grauzone festival. They served some amazing vegan mushroom burgers here too.

Peace Palace The Hague, Netherlands Had a little time to sightsee before Grauzone music festival at The Hague, so walked to observe the 1910s-built Peace Palace from outside, which houses the United Nations' International Court of Justice.

A 15th-century building that was originally a city gate and part of the walls of Amsterdam, now with a cafe on the ground floor. It's the oldest non-religious building in the city. I didn't know what it was at first, just passed by to get to Chinatown nearby, but it caught my attention.