Live Drawing in Oakland Chinatown
Live Drawing Event, Lunar New Year 2023
Oakland Chinatown, California
To kick off Lunar New Year 2023, I did some live drawing of Oakland Chinatown storefronts with the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce and one of their market sponsors, Cricket Wireless. We had originally discussed doing a live mural, but that didn’t seem feasible with timing, so I landed on doing four wood panels of line art to bring those small businesses and the neighborhood to life.
Drawing is already kind of a private practice, so the thought of live drawing was initially a bit nerve-wracking. I then got carried away trying to concept something brand new for this event, but my partner reminded me that I should draw what I’m comfortable with, especially since this was going to be live in 40-something degree temperature. So I prepped my boards the night before by transferring my original line drawings onto the wood panels with tracing paper and graphite pencil and then hoped I could crank out two boards over four hours (and four boards across two days).
On the first day, I drew Nature Vegetarian and New Gold Medal. It took a few minutes to get into a groove, but I had fun adding food and other whimsical elements throughout. It helped that people got excited about what I was drawing, especially if I was drawing a favorite place of theirs. And I guesstimated the timing correctly and finished both within 4 hours :)
Peony Seafood and Shooting Star were on the second day, with the latter storefront as a clear crowd favorite. I remember chatting more people since I had gotten into a better flow with live drawing. Meanwhile, my partner was vending on my behalf, so I was able to do the wood board art while and sell my art prints too (I’m very lucky!).
A surprising takeaway was that I’m actually more relaxed live drawing than vending. I generally have an idea how something will turn out with drawing and can get into a flow and zone out while doing it. I never know how a market will go. They involve a lot of standing and being present while chatting with customers and processing orders. They always feels like a risk and can be quite draining, but I’ve always had fun doing them and getting to meet customers and vendor friends in person.
I’m thankful to members of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce Board that helped bring this event to life. They’ve been wonderful partners to work with and I’m hoping to continue working with and for Oakland Chinatown.
