Urban Archiving

Colin White sits in front of his subjects, sketching en plein air. The hastily drawn hatched lines he scratches on the page hint at the age and character — the weathered texture, layers of peeling paint and chipped mortar — of the long-standing buildings in his illustrations. The bright saturated colours he often adds digitally, back in the studio, suggest a vibrancy to these community hubs — the corner stores, mom-and-pop grocers and confectionaries — that pepper neighbourhoods throughout Ottawa. His urban sketches also act as an archive as these buildings slowly disappear.

White started sketching as a means of getting to know a place while travelling through Europe and Turkey after graduating with a degree in fine arts from Concordia University. When he landed in Ottawa, he continued to sketch the urban landscape, getting to know his new town, honing his drawing skills while working as a graphic artist.

"I looked at it as travelling locally — getting to know a new place, seeing new things, meeting people who would come talk to me as I worked," White says. "I'd have these random encounters and the thing I came to realize is that these places have meaning for people," White adds. "We pass by the same building everyday and everyone has a different reaction to it — a significant connection, a first date. I see this work as an important archive of the urban environment."

Take Boushey's Fruit Market, run by three generations of the same family since 1946, as an example. White sketched it before it closed in 2016 and people had a strong reaction to the drawing and the closure of such a key part of their daily life.

White's favourite stretch to sketch is in his own backyard. He's particularly fond of the buildings on Somerset Street West, between Booth and LeBreton. He's been documenting the changes along that strip for more than a decade — shopping at the family-run Lim Bangkok Grocery at 794 Somerset St., shown in the illustration above, for just as long.

"It's nice to be known by the owners," he says. "There's something a little romantic about these stores. Rather than being removed in a big supermarket, these stores are a more immediate part of the neighbourhood."

Colin White: Illustration, Art, Urban Sketching
colinwhite.ca | draw@colinwhite.ca | @colinwhite