Sketch Fearless: Loose Lines & Architecture

Hey, how you doing? It's, uh, Monday, May 25th, 2026. Jason Nicholas Nicholas here with the Inspired Life. Hope you're having a great day. It's late, I know, I know, but I haven't sketched today. I need to do some sketching. Um, so join me just for a few. I won't be on too long tonight because I have, uh, school tomorrow. But yeah, join me for a few minutes. We'll do a, a quick sketch, maybe two. We'll see how that goes. I'm looking for maybe a reference image now, but in the meantime, say hello. I hope you are having a good day today. It is Memorial Day. It is Memorial Day. Let's see, I'm just— I have my, uh, phone here opened in some of my New York City images. IDK, what do I want to sketch? I'm just going to scroll through. How about— I am not sure. Let's see. So, uh, yes, Memorial Day. Very— we had a long weekend here, uh, Friday through today for school, which was great. So we were blessed to have that extra time. I hope you did something good this weekend. I really just caught up on stuff. Nothing exciting happened, um, just catching up on some stuff. All right, I'm going to sketch this view looking towards Grand Central right there, GCT. So I'll do a quick sketch. I think I have one more page in this book, so let's go and use it. Feel free to say hello in the comments. I hope you're doing good. Let's see, I think there's one more page. Oh, a couple more. All right, let's do some sketching. I spent the weekend just— well, I spent the weekend actually redoing my website, redoing— I launched a new podcast, so I have a podcast out. First episode is on, uh, it's on Spotify. I'll talk a little bit more about it in a minute or so. But that was, uh, spent some time working on that. It's amazing how the— how time flies when you're working on these projects. All right, this is gonna be super, super quick here. Kind of treating this almost like a single line drawing. Which is a really cool way. It's a great technique for staying loose. Single line drawings, try not to pick up your pen. This is not about perfection. For me right now, it's just about getting lines on paper, just because I haven't, haven't done that today, and I've My brain is saying, yes, do some sketching. And who am I to argue with my brain? It's not going to get me anywhere. All right, cool. Hey, uh, Edie's in the house. How are you? Good to see you, Edie. I hope you're doing well. It's always great, great seeing you in the chat. I hope you're doing well. Uh, my holiday was busy, busy. I just— I'm trying to catch up on a bunch of stuff, fixing some things around the house. Um, worked on my website, which is almost done. It's up and running. If anybody wants to go there, go to theinspiredlife.com. You can kind of see the new layout. Theinspiredlife.com. It's not perfect yet, that's okay. I wanted to launch it. I'm not looking for perfection. And if you are on it, just let me know. I'm sure you'll find some bugs or things that aren't hooked up, and that's okay. If I waited until there were no issues, I would never get it launched. So I worked on my website, and I'm excited. I got— finally got that podcast kind of out. On Spotify and Apple iTunes. So it is out. I'll show you guys, I'll show you, I'll show you it on my phone. But enough about me. Edie, how are you? How was your weekend? Let me know in the chat. Hey Kiko, good to see you. How are you, Kiko, over on Instagram? What's up, Kiko? Always a pleasure to see you, my friend. All right, cool. I'm gonna throw some color down. Um, here is— here's the podcast, quick plug. All right, so this is the new podcast right here. You know, it wants me to rate Spotify. Um, here it is, it's called Simply Being Human. Permission to Exhale. First episode's out, it's called Finish the Chase. These are inspired by my Hike and Mikes. You've seen, maybe have seen the videos on Instagram or YouTube or TikTok, Facebook. I'm just turning it into a series now, a podcast series, and it'll expand and grow into more things. So please check that out on Spotify, Apple iTunes. It's also on YouTube as well. So I hope you like it, find it, subscribe, follow it. That would be awesome. So that's kind of a pet project and a direction I want to grow into more. Yeah, we'll talk more about that on future podcasts. So this is the MetLife Building I'm sketching here behind Grand Central Terminal. Got the clock right here, kind of the arch with the clock. Boom. These awesome big curved windows. Oops, this is actually an oval window here, and then we have a kind of a rectangular one. Yeah, this, this is, this is what you call really fast and loose here. And I, I'm liking it, just having fun throwing lines on paper. I don't— I just— it is what it is. I kind of did that with this sketch the other night, and people love this sketch. I'm getting so many good comments on this one. People are loving the Madame Tussauds sketch, so it's really interesting. I never know what's gonna catch, what people are gonna like, but, uh, honestly, I'm kind of just sketching for things I want to sketch here. Kiko says all good. Oh, I'm glad you're good, Kiko. Edie, yeah, it rained all weekend here too. You hung around your apartment. That's cool. Yeah, it rained here all weekend. Stopped in probably around, uh, 1 o'clock here today. I almost went into NYC Saturday. They were— there were people sketching over near the Vessel, but I didn't want to go in. Well, I did want to go in, but I did not go in. I always want to go into the city. And I almost went into the city today, but I had too much to do here. But I will definitely be in there next Saturday. I signed up for a workshop, so I'll be in NYC next Saturday doing some sketching. So how cool will that be? As long as it is not raining. All right, do I want to throw down color on this? You know, we're going to keep this black and white tonight. 9:52. I'm going to wrap at 10, 10 PM, because I have to get up for school tomorrow. As much as I love school I wish— I kind of wish I was home tomorrow. I'm not, not feeling— I'm just feeling really tired. Yeah, we'll just keep this black and white tonight. We'll throw on some hatch lines. I love Grand Central. It's such a Cool building. So I was counting earlier, there are only— oh my gosh, was it 19? 19 more days of school. I could be off with that count. I don't remember if it was 19 or 29. All I know is I'm out on June 19th. That's our last day of school. Not that I'm counting. Um, no, I would not be counting. Never. I am looking forward to summer, guys. I am looking forward to it. I have architecture work this summer, which I'm interested and excited to be doing. Good change of pace. Last year I worked for the school during the summer doing it for the tech department, which was cool. It was a cool job, great people I worked with. But this summer I am not— I'm going to work, focus on my architecture business this summer. Um, yeah, things just kind of worked out that way, and I'm glad they did. So I kind of feel like I haven't had a break from school in a long time since I went there most of last summer. Not a complaint though, not a complaint. I am blessed to be where I'm at. Doing what I do, 100%. Cool. I like this sketch. Sorry, it's way off the screen. Sketching off the screen. All right, let me know if you guys have any questions or comments as I wrap this sketch up. Just kind of work on the bridge here in the foreground. I believe this is the Pershing— the Pershing Bridge. I'm feeling it, I'm feeling the vibe here. Just scratchy lines thrown down, and it's— I'm just vibing with the scratchiness here. I like it, I like it. Very cool. Let's just kind of darken these windows here a little bit. You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna throw one color on here. I'm just gonna break out yellow highlighter color pencil and throw some yellow, pop some of the windows out a little bit, and then we'll wrap this one up. Uh, may ask if teachers are allowed to collect unemployment during summer break. No. Yeah, I know, I I am not allowed to collect unemployment. So my salary is 10 months of the year. I cannot collect unemployment. At least, that's at least in the state of New Jersey. I don't know if that's— I don't know if that's nationwide, but I am not. So I need to work in the summer because I cannot afford not to. Um, we'll Welcome to life. But at least this summer— I mean, last summer was cool. I liked my job with the tech department, but this summer, uh, I have my architecture stuff going, which is kind of good. It's ramped up a little bit, and project I am super, super excited to be working on. Yes, 100%. Hey, Sifat, I see you. NYC Walking Show, I see you on Instagram. How are you, man? I miss you. So good to see you. NYC Walking Show is in the house. I am so sorry I have not been on streams. My schedule's just been cray cray, but I would love to catch up with you. I'll be in NYC next Saturday. Maybe if our paths cross, that would be awesome. Always great seeing you. So yeah, so this is, uh, GCT, the MetLife Building in the background, Pershing— correct me, guys, if, uh, Pershing Avenue, or the bridge here, is it Pershing Avenue? I don't forget what this bridge is called in front of Grand Central. Thank you, NYC. I'm doing well. Just want to check out what you're up to. Appreciate that. So cool. All right, it's always great when you all pop in and say hello. I appreciate you and your time so much. Hey, thank you. Amazing sketch. No, I appreciate it. Thank you. Just, this is a, this is a very, very, very quick sketch. I had only like 15 minutes to do to do this. Um, but yeah, I'd love to show you quick show and tell, guys, of some of the things we've been doing recently. Just take a minute here. This was the Madame Tussauds sketch, Radio City, and I'm most excited right now about the calendar project. Also, I am teaching a sketching workshop at Stationery Fest in Brooklyn I'll be there August 1st, Industry City, and I'm teaching a really cool sketching workshop, uh, New York City architecture. Um, check it out, go to stationeryfest.com. Also should be a link in my notes. I'd love to see you guys there. Sign up for the workshop, no experience necessary. It's gonna be a really, really, really big event. It's 3 days, Brooklyn, Industry City. I think it starts July 27th or 28th. Um, so these are the images we've been working on. I wanted to turn these into prints and a calendar, and the last one we did was inspired here by the New York Stock Exchange. Thank you so much, Edie, for this suggestion. If you have any more, let me know. Anybody, let me know. And NYSE, we have the Brooklyn Bridge. Grand Central Terminal. Um, this is a bridge. I forget the name of the bridge, but it's a bridge in Central Park. I need to look up the name. I think it's near the zoo. GCT again. Grand Central Terminal. The Met, well, part of the Met. Um, here's an, here's an ED suggestion: the Unisphere. I think this was GG's suggestion, maybe the Arch, Washington Square Park Arch. Um, St. Nicholas Church. Another one of Grand Central Terminal. I think you can tell which of the buildings I like a lot. Grand Central Terminal, the Guggenheim, One World Trade. I really like this one a lot. Chrysler, the ESB, Empire State Building. Um, here's another view. This is Grand Central with the MetLife Building in the background. So a different view of the same subject we did a quick sketch of tonight. Of course, the Domino Sugar Refinery, my— one of my other favorite buildings. You like Unisphere? Yes, I know, right? Um, I love the Domino Building. I'm gonna go there this summer. I'm gonna hang out in Brooklyn. Um, I'm sorry, Domino Park this summer for sure. Uh, St. Patrick's, Lincoln Center, boom, the Copper Building, of course, the Oculus. Some people hate the building, some people love the building, some are indifferent. I actually kind of love it. And then of course the Brooklyn Bridge. Bam! So yep, that's quick show and tell of where we are at with our NYC— we'll call it the calendar sketchbook. Guys, I think I'm gonna wrap up. It's just after 10. Uh, this has been fun, so thank you for tuning in. Please, uh, check out my new podcast. I'd love for you to do that. Do that. I'll be promoting it a bunch, so just warning you. Um, again, it's called Simply Being Human: Permission to Exhale. I like it. So here's a little description of it: in an always-on world drowning In an always-on world drowning in expectations, Simply Being Human: Permission to Exhale offers something rare: permission. Permission to be imperfect. Permission to feel. Permission to just be you. Host Jason Nicholas explores what it means to be human, not extraordinary, just real. Through stories, questions, and a toolkit for living without the pressure, this show reminds you You're not alone. Imperfect equals I am perfect. So there you go. Again, Simply Being Human. Sorry, I'm plugging and promoting, but sometimes you gotta do that in the world. We gotta promote ourselves, put ourselves out there. Um, I'm on a mission to just keep putting good things out there, keep in touch with who we are as humans, as creatives, artists, non-artists. There's a communication, there's a, there's a communication, a connection that needs to be maintained, uh, and taken up to the next level. Cool. Hey, DB's in the house! DB, good to see you on Facebook. Congrats on the workshops you've been teaching. So cool. I love that you're teaching at your senior center. That is Awesome. Great, great stuff. But unfortunately, I am headed out. I started late. DB, we need to catch up. It'd be great to catch up. Edie, thank you for watching on YouTube. I appreciate your time. You— you're awesome. Um, yeah, DB. DB's one of the OG Inklings from like 5 years ago, and I'm so glad we're still in touch. Um, means a lot to me. Thank you. Oh, I didn't go to the heart cam, guys. I guess it's too late. Usually end with the heart cam. I'll go to the heart cam quick. We'll wrap up. Edie's like, come on, Jason, finish up, it's late. All right, let's go to the heart cam. Let's wrap up. I like the heart cam. I can connect better. Let's see, we're gonna switch. Hey, oh, there I am. All right, cool. Yes, I am not Batman. I am not Batman, I swear. All right, um, I just want to thank you on this Memorial Day. I hope, you know, let's honor, remember, and celebrate those that have, have, um, have, you know, fought, fought to keep us, you know, to keep, keep us moving forward. So let's honor those that have fallen. Um, please keep them in your prayers today. That would be amazing. And I want to thank you because your time is precious. I know it is. And whether I'm on in the background, in the foreground, if you're sketching with me, if you're just listening to me, if you're cooking or falling asleep to me, it doesn't matter. I just want to know that I'm putting good vibes out there, somehow making a positive impact on you and the world around you. Um, yeah, I don't know what I'm saying, I'm so tired. I'm just one person. I want to make a ripple, and together we can make the ripple larger, bigger, more positive, more powerful. Until we meet again, sketch boldly. I gotta work, I gotta work on these outros. I'm so tired. Um, until we meet again, sketch boldly, inspire endlessly, and embrace imperfection. And tonight's show and outro is a great example of embracing imperfection. Yeah, take 2. Click. All right, see you soon.