Sketching from Toronto to New York

My friend and I decided to head off to New York during the Civic Holiday, and one of the things I have decided was to sketch my way there. Equipped with a pocket size Moleskine notebook and a variety of Pigma Micron pens, my journey begins at the Toronto Pearson Airport.

We have an hour to spare before we board our plane, so we decided to grab a bite at the Molson Pub.

Everyone seems to be having a great time there, and the waiters and waitresses were very friendly and attentive.

This sketch was a view behind their bar area, and the waitress is handing over a beer to be served.

After half an hour of waiting, our food finally came.  Since we don't have that much time left before boarding, we quickly finished off our food and pay the bill.

When we arrived at the gate, the waiting area was full of people.  We checked the electronic bulletin board for our flight status and noticed our gate number was changed.  Luckily it was just the next gate over, so we found a seat to get settled.

I was sitting across from a boy that was travelling with his grandparents. His grandparents did not speak English, so he was translating any airline updates to them.  I started drawing his grandmother, but she was moving too frequently, so when the boy was focused on watching a show on his laptop, I took the opportunity to switch and draw the boy instead.

Half way through the sketch, the airline worker at the gate provided an update about our flight.  That's when the boy closed up his laptop and went over to the gate to listen. The airline worker said the plane is fuelled and ready to go, they are just waiting for the crew to show up.  That's when we found out that the previous flight to New York was also delayed.  That explains why there were so many people at the waiting area!

The lower half of this sketch was done from every opportunity I've got.  He was constantly turning his head to check for updates, so it became difficult.

After I finish the sketch of the boy, I noticed a well dressed woman sitting a couple rows ahead.  She was waiting patiently for her flight.  I imagine she has been waiting for a long while since she was holding her neck with one hand, while the other hand does the support.

I decided to do a loose gesture / mass drawing of the young woman because I wanted to capture her elegant pose.

At the end, our flight got cancelled due to the fact that there were no crew available for the flight.  We ended up having to re-book our flight to New York, and got hotel and meal vouchers for the night.

By midnight, we finally ended up staying at DoubleTree Hotel.  All the restaurants at the hotel was closed, so we grabbed a sandwich from the convenient store and called it a night.

The next day, we used our meal voucher at the hotel cafe for breakfast.  While waiting for the food, I noticed an interesting plant decoration on the table and decided to sketch it.  Instead of soil, the plant holder was filled with coffee beans.

After breakfast, we took the shuttle bus back to Toronto Pearson airport for our flight to New York.  Since there was roughly 2 hours to spare, I decided to wander around the airport and sketch!  One thing that caught my eye was the rows of luggage carts parked outside.  I found a window seat and started sketching the scene.

  

Finally it was time to board the flight!  I was assigned a seat on the exit row, so I got extra leg room.  I took the opportunity to sketch the interior of the plane from my perspective.

Time really flies when you are sketching.  Before I knew it, we have arrived at our destination - New York!

We were waiting for a bus from the Newark terminal to take us to Port Authority when I noticed a really cool looking tree.  Uncertain about how much time I have before the bus arrives, I sat down on the bench and quickly sketched the tree.  About 5 minutes passed and the bus arrived, so I had to wrap this sketch up.

Sadly I didn't have much opportunity to sketch during my 2 day trip.  I did 2 sketches and one of them was my friend Ken's place in NYC.  It was a really nice and cozy place, close-by to everything - very convenient for tourists like us!

The other sketch I did in NYC was at a restaurant call VYNL. It features this cool light fixture, but I didn't have time to complete the whole thing.  Ended up doing half of the light fixture but you get the idea.

Before we knew it, the trip was over!  We really enjoyed our time in NYC, and would definitely visit again.  I did one last sketch at the Newark airport of the United Airline plane.