In this solo vlog, Jason Nicholas of The Inspired Life shares a nostalgic look at his oldest sketchbook, opening to a 1993 on‑location sketch of the World Trade Center twin towers. He explains why he loves sketching architecture, describing a hand‑eye‑brain‑heart connection that embeds the spirit of a place into his core. He recounts the rainy day in Hoboken when, as a young architect intern, he sketched the skyline, and shows another sketch from the same day featuring the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings. Jason contrasts the emotional depth of sketchbook pages with photographs, emphasizing how drawings evoke a stronger personal connection. He announces upcoming in‑person sketching workshops in New York City, invites viewers to sign up, mentions a possible live sketching session, and engages with a viewer comment from Judy about archival skyline sketches. Throughout, he encourages creativity, positivity, and community interaction.
Chapters
Awesome! Hey guys, I'm Jason Nicholas Nicholas with The Inkspired Life. Hope you're having a great day today. It's always great to see you out there. I just want to share a message with you. I was sitting there, sitting here today going through some stuff, cleaning, organizing my studio, and and I pulled out my oldest sketchbook right here. This goes back to like 1993. Um, so I wanted to talk a little bit about why do I love sketching architecture. It's a question I get a lot. So let me flip this open to a really special sketch. So this is a sketch I did of the World Trade Center. Back in 1993. You can actually see the Twin Towers right here. Um, my favorite— this is my favorite sketch since I've been sketching. I'm so glad I still have the original. I love sketching architecture, especially on location, because it has a, a real magical way of connecting the sense of a place, the spirit of a place, Um, it actually, it ingrains, it ingrains the sense of the spirit of a place into my heart, into my soul, into my core being. There's just something really magical about that hand-eye-brain-and-heart connection that really builds, creates special moments. So I can remember back in 1993 When I sketched this, I was a young architect intern working in Hoboken, New Jersey. Took a walk to Stevens Institute, had some lunch with me. It was actually a rainy day. And I remember looking across the Hudson River at this view. Picked up my pen, started sketching. If you notice the line work here, it is really loose. So I've always had this kind of style for sketching. But yeah, I just remember the future looked— I was so excited about the future. I couldn't wait to be a licensed architect designing buildings, maybe skyscrapers or museums or just something really magical. The presence— being in the presence of New York City and seeing that skyline for me is transformational even to this day when I go into the city. So it's a real magical experience. So that's one of the reasons I love sketching architecture. It's just because it's a way of ingraining the spirit of a place in my soul. Um, paper and a pen, that's all it takes. And there's another sketch. I'll show you the next one. This is the same day. I actually sketched another skyline view. And here you can see the Empire State Building, and then over here, way in the background, is the Chrysler Building. Um, yeah, so that was the same day. So, so glad I kept this sketchbook over the years. I have a lot here. Unfortunately, over the years I didn't number them and organize them as best as I could have, but that's okay, they're still here. Great to flip through. I would rather flip through my sketchbook than pictures on my phone. There's just something that really connects my heart more and brings me back to a place when I look at my sketches as compared to a photograph. I love it. I love photography. I love photographing architecture. I take lots and lots of pictures, and they're great to go back for references for me. Um, yeah, so just looking a little bit ahead in the future, I'm working on putting together in-person sketching workshops, um, in New York City where we would spend a day, a few hours together sketching some places in New York City. So be on the lookout for that if you're interested. I'd love to have you sign up for it. Kind of a sketching workshop day with me in New York City. Hopefully I'll be posting some information about that in the upcoming weeks as the warm weather happens. Workshops will definitely be happening in the summer, maybe if not before. Alright guys, thank you for watching. Again, if you have any questions, leave them in the comments. I'm always happy to answer them. Feel free to leave feedback for me as well, and I might be sketching live tonight. So maybe somewhere around 9 o'clock PM Eastern time. Alright, I'm Jason Nicholas with The Inspired Life. Remember, if you can sketch a line, you can definitely sketch architecture. You keep using your creativity for positivity. We need to put as many positive vibes out there as we can. Alright, thank you again for watching. Take care. I'll be back real soon. Until then, Keep being yourself, keep being creative. See you. One comment I see— Judy's online. Judy, great to see you. Judy says you might have archival-worthy options in City Hall or wherever, original skylines or historical. Yes, love that. Thank you, Judy. I appreciate your comments on on the YouTube. All right guys, take care. Have a great, great rest of your day, and I'll try to be on later and we'll do some sketching together. Cool. I like— I do talk a lot when I get excited. Um, I'll have to edit the video. But behind me, actually, you can see I'm sitting in a different location. I'm sitting closer to my, my wall back here where I have a lot of New York City sketches posted. Not all of them. It's I don't know, maybe, maybe a third. I'll have my sketches. All right, take care, guys.
