Vic High Inspires ‘Pencil Architect’

by Linda Baker, VHS 1969

Something about Vic High drew him in on his daily walks with his dog, and inspired him to  take up his mechanical 2 mm drafting pencil and draw her. Forty to fifty hours later, Karl Gruenewald had completed this extraordinary drawing. He shared it on his Instagram account, and the Vic High Seismic Project’s Heritage Architect Kristal Stevenot saw it and told us about him.

“My wife is from Victoria,” says Karl, “we got married here, and last summer moved here from Ottawa. Something about Vic High reminded me of my high school in Moncton. I think it’s important to document these kinds of buildings and share the images.” Karl is an Intern Architect, and his wife just finished her architectural studies.

Karl attended art school as well, working in pencil and charcoal. This drafting pencil drawing is his first, and he’s started working on a drawing of the Northern Junk building in downtown Victoria. He draws on good archival quality cotton rag paper, using no fixatives which might distort the drawing. He drew Vic High from memory, from photos he took, and photos found on this website.

More of Karl’s work is available https://www.instagram.com/pencilarchitect/ . Prints of his Vic High drawing are available on his website www.pencilarchitect.com  The original image, measuring 20″ x 15″, is also available to purchase. And you can view a timelapse video of Karl drawing Vic High by searching YouTube for pencilarchitect.