L.A., Part 2: Venice Canal District with USk LA

 

4/12/25 Venice Canal District, LA

A big highlight of my L.A. visit was sketching with USk LA in the historic Venice Canal District. Built at the turn of the 20th century, the canals were made to emulate the original canals of Venice, Italy. Colorful, multi-million-dollar homes line the canals, where small boats float quietly on the surface (no vaporettos or gondolas here!). It’s picturesque, quaint and definitely sketchable.

The last time I visited the Canals was in 2014, when I had made only one sketch, so I was eager to take a fresh, leisurely look using my sketchbook. The best part was meeting up with a few local sketchers and later chatting over lunch.

My hastily sketched tacos at Guisados

Although the group didn’t have a regularly scheduled outing during the days I would be in town, that didn’t deter me. A few weeks before my trip, I just introduced myself in the USk LA Facebook group and invited others to join me at the Canals on Saturday. To my delight, several accepted my invitation. I’ve said it here before, and I’ll say it again: The single biggest benefit of being part of the Urban Sketchers community is that I can go anywhere in the US or world and easily find fellow sketchers to meet and sketch with!