This is a collection of travel drawings from Venezuela, before hugo Chavez died. I created them in September of 2012. Hitchhiking through Venezuela sketching what I saw proved perilous, but I was not deprived of new knowledge, awareness of the status quo or exciting sensations. These drawings include the Gran Sabana, Cumuna, Caracas, Merida and the mountains of San Cristobal.
This is a drawing of the kitchen in the house where I stayed in Caracas, Venezuela. They were Chavistas, revolutionaries in their own words.
A drawing of Caracas medical tents. One thing I appreciated about efforts in Venezuela was the use of available services to alleviate urban problems, such as lack of health coverage.
I was in Cumana, and made this travel sketch of the castle, just 5 days before Hugo Chavez announced his candidacy here.
In the small, colonial town of Choroni, the bamboo creek made for an excellent sketching subject.
A travel sketch in Venezuela of Playa los Chivos, to which I walked from Cumana. The kind, poor family I met there would not allow me to return on foot for the danger, and deposed me on the public beach in their fishing boat.
This drawing of Charlie Chaplin is actually a sketch of a statue in Merida, Venezuela.
A drawing of Hugo Chavez.
This is a drawing of a Venezuelan friend, with whose parents I stayed for ten days in Merida.
I made this drawing of a Venezuelan girl, who allowed me to sketch her, her being an art student and all.
A sketch of Merida’s Palacio de Gobierno. The government was everywhere, as was the likeness of Chavez.
Travel drawing in Merida, Venezuela.
A travel drawing in Mucuraba from the perch where I’d pitched my tent for the evening.
This is a portrait of a Venezuelan man in the street.
I drew this sketch of Puente Orinokia, and minutes later had to haggle with young, proud Venezuelan policemen.
A drawing of the Santa Elena Monastery in Venezuela at the border with Brazil.
Almost all central plazas in Venezuela were called Simón Bolívar. I managed to sketch the man himself, as most plazas has his statue as well.
Gas in Venezuela was cheaper than water. Old cars were well-kempt by their owners, and I enjoyed sketching these. It makes one wonder at how much energy we’d save if instead of the image of plenty people simply maintained their cars Stateside.
A sketch of Venezuela’s huge tabletop mountains in the Gran Sabana, on the road to Brazil.
A travel sketch in Caracas, Venezuela, of the La Hoya market.
Choroni is a popular, small town on the coast not far from Caracas. I drew this man entering the water from the beach.
Venezuela’s Puerto Colombia is a beautiful costal town where fisherman bring in their catch teh same hour every day. Here’s a travel drawing of the ocean.
I enjoyed travel sketching in Venezuela, not least of all because of the old colonial, pastel-hue facades that I kept coming across.
In the mountains of Merida, Venezuela, one comes upon La Culata, a breathtaking valley deeply cut.
A travel sketch of Merida’s cathedral, a beautiful example of Venezuelan colonial architecture.
