The late American artist Chandler O’Leary chronicled her travels in sketch stories for more than a decade, generating a huge following, as well as prints, stationery and a book.
These sketches from her travels in The Great White North, as she labels it, are perfect for today’s Canada Day post. They are quintessential images of my country. (Click on the images to go to her original stories.)
x
For Canada Day, the anniversary of the July 1, 1867 date that we became a country.
Chandler O’Leary’s Drawn the Road Again site, here.
Note: I have run these drawings on Canada Day Before (a few years ago) so if it looks familiar, that’s why.
Discover more from Canadian Art Junkie
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.










Fabulous sketches.
This was a truly interesting series of illustrations for Canada Day.
Amazing. What talent. I should burn mine. I think I will.
Naw, don’t do that!
I am a big fan of Chandler – I just got her new book “The Best Coast – a Road Trip Atlas” – so fun!
I have her books on my wish list, but have never seen one live yet
These sketchbooks… I think they are more like artists paintings in a book. I always thought of sketch books as a fast way to get your ideas down… these sketchbooks take drawing/painting to a whole new level. Beautiful! Also, because they are in a sketchbook they can be quick pieces of art… well, they are not quick necessarily, but they are on a smaller canvas is what I mean.
I know what you mean and agree. Years ago, I learned about The Sketchbook Project, which keeps a library of thousands of artist sketchbooks, most of them digitized and browsable You’re right that many talented artists see a sketchbook as a canvas, not just a tool for recording ideas. Thanks for that perspective.
Well, it is a new way for me and others to be an “wanta be artist,” because I feel comfortable with a sketchbook and it looks like they do too. The beauty of this is it allows us to practice art on a small scale every day. Wonderful!