29 Comments
Dec 2, 2022Liked by Nishant Jain

I love travelling in urban transport, especially trains. Have had many a weekend just going around London from line to line. Wish i was in US or Canada, would have jumped over to Vancouver to accompany you :)

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Yes, London is just so great for that!

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Yet again you innovate your way into a sweet gig (drawing on trains)! I recently tried to draw the countryside whizzing by the TGV from Paris to Bordeaux, but my hand wasn’t steady enough with the rocking of the train car. Would you please develop the sketching equivalent of steadycam? Given your record of innovation, I don’t doubt that you will.

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Thank you Peter! I'm excited to make the most of this chance. Incidentally Vancouver trains are quite rocky too, especially the line I will be on tonight! Maybe inspiration will strike?

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Dec 2, 2022Liked by Nishant Jain

it could be a impressionist version of your art maybe, quick short strokes rather than long meandering lines ;)

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That's how it turns out in situ sometimes!

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This is THE most creative idea for a residency!

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Thank you Amie. Day 1 was last night!!

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Dec 4, 2022Liked by Nishant Jain

Hi Nishant! I'm a journalist at CBC Vancouver and we'd love to chat with you about being Translink's artist-in-residence! I sent you a message on Twitter, so please let me know if you'd be available tomorrow potentially!

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Ahhhh! This is wonderful. What a fantastic gig - I'm pathetically, lamentably jealous. I've long been fascinated with trains as places with just the right amount of background stimulation (the sense of movement, the overheard conversations, the faces passing by) for some really fun creative work. And now you get to test it out properly. Congrats!

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Thank you Mike! I'm so eager to get going. Tonight was going to be the first time, but we have a heavy snow forecast, so I'm going tomorrow instead. Haha, what a start!

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How utterly exciting!!!!!! Congratulations, Nishant!

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Thank you, Melinda!

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Congratulations on all the projects you have coming up!

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Thank you very much!

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Wow, what a fabulous project - huge congratulations!

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Thank you!

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Dec 2, 2022Liked by Nishant Jain

What a wonderful opportunity. It's like a gift falling from the sky...not something you would expect or be able to plan for. I am very impressed with the Vancouver transport to reach out to you and do something so "outside of the box". We will all be watching to see how it goes for you. Good luck. And congratulations. They might find that more people will travel on public transit just so they can meet you and pick up tips. You might end up with a whole train traveling and drawing workshop full of commuters. You will certainly reach a lot of people to inspire.

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And absolutely I'm so happy to see TransLink thinking creatively!

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Hahaha I would love if that happened. As it stands I'm inviting all urban sketchers in the city to join me the day I'm at Waterfront Station. We will do an urban sketch takeover!

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Quick question - was that quotation about procrastination vs. ripening of ideas from Calvino/Invisible Cities? Or, should I attribute that to you? (I ask because I'm developing a career options course for science grad students for spring 2023, and I'm collecting nuggets of wisdom that will hopefully help them achieve a sustainable mindset about their own expectations, productivity, need for rest, etc.) Thanks!

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Thank you so much, that was all me. 😊

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Well, I really love it! It says *a lot* and I hope the students will embrace the idea. Here's the quote "tile" I'll share with them. I layered in some watercolor splotches of my own. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZOtKXccWgajxTfUw802v7SQUCV2w1TsO/view?usp=share_link

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Dec 3, 2022·edited Dec 3, 2022Author

I love it! I recently spoke to incoming Master's students at my alma mater TU Delft (in the Netherlands) on similar topics. Here is the ppt I made, maybe it helps - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IiU0YnB2D7IbVXlWazPXj11upaTItTwK/view?usp=share_link

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Congratulations on the residency 🎉

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Thank you Lis! 🙌

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Love the idea! Good luck and hope to catch you in Delhi :)

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Thank you, Ila! And yes to Delhi. 😊

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Your sketches on public transport are like blasts from the past for me, reminding me of the good ol’ days of riding the subways in Philadelphia. And yes, you see all sorts of interesting people and situations just like the ones you sketch! Just love the stories connected to each and the stories that may come to be!!

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