JQ's Sketchblog @johnnyquanart - Tumblr Blog

Akureyri Botanical Garden Akureyri, Iceland

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.

Akureyri Kirkya Akureyri, Iceland

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!

Kristiansand Domkirke Kristiansand, Norway

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!

Risøybrua Haugesund, Norway

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!

Ægir Bryggeri Flåm, Norway

Flåm might be the most majestic step into nature I have ever experienced yet in my life. I marveled over the green mountains and waterfalls overlooking the fjord, which made me feel like a tiny little ant. In the area is a microbrewery with a Viking-styled building represented here.

The tree, representing Yggdrasil, had these carvings around it, including a Viking face (that you can see here), Ratatoskr the squirrel at the branches, and Níðhöggr the dragon (who gnaws the tree's roots) at the base.

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.

Arctic Cathedral (Tromsdalen Church) Tromsø, Norway Built in the 60's, it's hard not to admire the church's minimalist and frankly kinda old school sci-fi appearance. I didn't go in, but if you do look at photos of its interior, it even kinda looks... synthwave. To get here I had to walk across the Tromsø Bridge, which btw, was an experience all its own, as you marvel the majestic snow-capped mountains in front of you, before meeting a phone booth converted into a little library. Just remember one side of the bridge is for bikes, and the other is for walking - got called out as an obvious tourist for that!

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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 joined my folks on a ship to Norway... if you know my mom, you know it's her preferred way of travel. Beautiful ship btw, but I'd been on so many with her, I wanted my sketchbook to be focused with locations outside, so did no sketches of the ship this time.

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.

Amstel River and Munttoren Amsterdam, Netherlands

Also out of order in my sketchbook of my journey... I pasted a printed copy of this in my cahier (since the original's bigger than can fit, which I posted in my Moleskine instead).

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.

Nieuwe Kerk The Hague, Netherlands

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.

The Grey Space in the Middle The Hague, Netherlands

"The idea that the piece of work is not finished until the audience comes to it and adds their new interpretation and what the piece of art is about is the gray space in the middle." - David Bowie

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.

The Waag Amsterdam, Netherlands

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.

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