I went out to Vancouver’s Lunar New Year parade to try to capture some of the sights on paper. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed it after Covid - hearing the sounds of the lion dance drummers warming up put me in a full emotional tailspin. Vancouver was the anti-Asian hate crime capital of North America in 2020 and the horrific news of the shooting in Monterey Park was a grim reminder that in many ways, this isn’t over. But all of that just made me want to celebrate harder, and it felt extra good to be steeped in joy, celebration and community today.
Standing in a tightly packed crowd, peeking at performers speeding by on the parade route, it was hard to know what to draw. Here’s a quick one of the Chinatown millennium gates above the heads of spectators.
Best seats in the house
Never mind. *These* were the best seats.
A toddler in his dress-up lion costume.
Lion dance. I sketched this, and the dragon below, on the spot but painted them at home.
I love the dragon so much - its mouth bobs open and closed after the ball and it’s so fluid, you forget it’s being controlled by people holding sticks.
Safe!
This felt like a bit of an “afterparty” - after the parade had cleared out, one lion came and "blessed” Jack Chow Insurance, an iconic Chinatown business. The business hangs a head of lettuce with a lucky red envelope tied to it in the doorway - the lion bows to the doorway, then “eats” the lettuce, takes the envelope and spits the leaves everywhere. Then it goes into the shop for more blessings inside. My favourite thing to watch as a kid at the local Chinese supermarket.
Happy Lunar New Year! <3
Zoe
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Always so impressed with how you can sketch and convey a scene so well in your illustrations and paint them so vibrantly. When I do watercolor, everything gets muddied together, haha. So talented!
Wonderful way to capture the event, in the midst of challenging times.
Always so impressed with how you can sketch and convey a scene so well in your illustrations and paint them so vibrantly. When I do watercolor, everything gets muddied together, haha. So talented!