Description

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For locals and visitors alike, these sketches and stories highlight both the historic monuments and everyday moments that make Victoria shine.

You never know quite what you’ll come across in British Columbia’s capital city. With its unmissable landmarks that attract people from around the world, Victoria is also rich in forested beauty, charming houses, and curious people, and is steeped in local history.

Following the charm of her previous book, Hand Drawn Vancouver, in this memorable book, Emma FitzGerald captures the coastal city of Victoria and its surrounding communities in over 100 sketches of:

• Iconic Landmarks: It wouldn’t be a visit to Victoria without stopping by the Empress, Munro’s, or Butchart Gardens.
• Local Favourites: The longstanding Beacon Drive In and James Bay’s Birdcage Confectionary are some beloved spots honoured within these pages.
• Beautiful Architecture: Journey back in time by admiring historic buildings, like Queen Anne–style homes and the spiraling Belfry Theatre.
• Stunning West Coast Landscape: Explore natural wonders, from culturally significant fields of camas flowers to Mystic Beach’s stunning shoreline.
• Overheard Conversations: What really makes a city are the people who live there—Emma documents snippets of passersby’s conversations as she sketches.

Structured by neighbourhood, Hand Drawn Victoria is a beautiful keepsake for both locals and visitors, and a lovely way to celebrate the city—its buildings, its people, and its essence.

About the Author

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EMMA FITZGERALD was born to Irish parents in Lesotho, a small mountainous kingdom in Southern Africa. She moved to Canada at a young age and spent most of her childhood in Vancouver, BC. Emma received a BFA in Visual Art from the University of British Columbia in 2004, and a Masters in Architecture from Dalhousie University in 2008. She has worked in architecture offices across Canada and in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her love of drawing on location led to her first book, Hand Drawn Halifax, and its follow-up, Sketch by Sketch Along Nova Scotia’s South Shore. She then turned her interest in people and places to where she grew up; Hand Drawn Vancouver was published in 2020 as she began working on Hand Drawn Victoria. In between her Hand Drawn series, Emma has illustrated five children’s books, including EveryBody’s Different on EveryBody Street, written by Sheree Fitch. She lives and draws in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

Praise For…

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Praise for Hand Drawn Vancouver
"From the majestic seawall to the everyday buzz of city life, [FitzGerald] captures the essence of Vancouver and its neighbourhoods with colour and humour."
—MONTECRISTO Magazine

"The book, a combination sketchbook/journal, is a smile-inducing record of neighbourhoods in Vancouver and the North Shore."
— Vancouver Sun
 

Praise for Sketch by Sketch
“FitzGerald has carved out her own niche as an artist who draws cities and buildings and special places, as a chronicler of the history of communities, a teller of stories of lives spent in particular places.”
—Lisa Cochrane, The Chronicle Herald


Praise for Hand Drawn Halifax
“Fun and intimate portraits celebrate the city’s buildings, neighbourhoods, and residents.”
—East Coast Living

“Emma’s lively illustrations and words capture the essence of Halifax.”
—Atlantic Books Today