Dawn Hunter's South Carolina Sunshine
Travel Drawings: Midtown, Atlanta
by Dawn Hunter
“I love the seasons—spring, summer, autumn, winter. I love them for what they are and for the idea they evoke, that of permanent change. They embody life, renewal, energy." by Kim Chong Hak
I brought my sketchbook with me on my recent trip to Atlanta in order to practice life drawing. I engaged in the process at various locations including the High Museum of Art, the Politan Row at Colony Square and the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Travel drawing functions as an artistic practice which helps me both create art and grasp the meaning of my experiences. Drawing serves as my method to observe the world while I slow down and convert brief experiences into enduring artistic creations no matter where I am.
High Museum of Art
At the High Museum of Art, I sketched two works by South Korean painter Kim Chong Hak—Autumn (2023) and Pandemonium (2018).These large-scale acrylic paintings are part of the Kim Chong Hak Foundation’s collection and were included in Kim Chong Hak: Painter of Seoraksan, the artist’s first U.S. museum exhibition (April 11–November 2, 2025).
Kim’s work, is vibrant and features floral and mountain imagery. It resonates deeply with me.His ability to sustain a sense of childlike wonder while rendering nature with expressive intensity creates a dialogue between immediacy and permanence. My sketches of his work became a study not only in line and form but also in the way perception shifts when responding to another artist’s vision.
Title: detail of Pandemonium, 2018, by Kim Chong Hak, Acrylic on canvas
Courtesy of the artist and the Kim Chong Hak Foundation
Title: sketch of Kim Chong Hak's detail of Pandemonium by Dawn Hunter, color pencil, marker and pen on paper, 11" x 17"
Drawing in the City
Outside the museum, I turned to the city itself. At Politan Row at Colony Square, a food hall and bar in Midtown near the High Museum, I immersed myself in drawing the people who were around me. The space is elegant and casual, and it is a setting that attracts visitors out for the evening, decompressing from work and even wedding parties. The crowded environment lent itself to caricature-like drawings that captured gesture and expression.
Among these sketches, one subject stood out: Kree, a young pregnant nursing student on a staycation with her boyfriend. I was struck by her presence, which was restful, grounded, and contemplative amid the busy scene. My portrait of her became a more sustained drawing, balancing spontaneity with careful observation.
Title: sketch of guests at Politan Row at Colony Square, Midtown, Atlanta by Dawn Hunter, marker and pen on paper, 11" x 14"
Politan Row Community
The caricature drawings made at Politan Row in Atlanta showcase the dynamic nature of people who gather in this active social environment. I use quick layered lines to create expressive drawings that focus on capturing gestures and personality traits instead of exact details. The drawings showcase both the natural observation process and the active communal environment through their range of detailed work from basic impressions to fully realized portraits. The collection of drawings presents a dynamic visual documentation of people who interact with each other while showing their unique characteristics.
Title: Portrait of Brandon by Dawn Hunter,
pen and ink on paper, 11" x 14"
Title: Portrait of Kree by Dawn Hunter,
pen and ink on paper, 11" x 14"
Title: sketch of guests at Politan Row at Colony Square, Midtown, Atlanta by Dawn Hunter, marker and pen on paper, 11" x 14"
Title: sketch of guests at Politan Row at Colony Square, Midtown, Atlanta by Dawn Hunter, marker and pen on paper, 11" x 14"
Title: sketch of Kim Chong Hak's detail of Autumn by Dawn Hunter, color pencil, marker and pen on paper, 11" x 17"
Off the Wall and into the World
My drawings of the Atlanta Botanical Garden present an energetic and interactive interpretation of nature which draws inspiration from Kim Chong Hak's dense and rhythmic compositions of his paintings on display at the High Museum. In my sketches I aim to depict the garden's thick vegetation with lines and colors to represent the vibrant plant life. The drawings follow Kim Chong Hak's expressive and action oriented painting and drawing style by emphasizing tempo, movement and abundance of a densely packed landscape.
Title: Atlanta Botanical Garden 1, by Dawn Hunter, marker and pen on paper, 11" x 17"
Title: Japanese Garden, Atlanta Botanical Garden, by Dawn Hunter, marker and pen on paper, 11" x 17"
Process and Purpose
My sketchbook practice is rooted in perceptual drawing. The practice of this type of focused observation activates both emotional and intellectual mental operations. Through direct observation of life I establish a dynamic relationship with the artistic elements of line, shape, value, texture, space, color and form.
The process provides more than visual study. Through drawing people can focus their minds while developing their spatial reasoning abilities and their skills in working with proportions and gestures. The steady observation of my hand movement across the page creates a meditative state which helps me reduce my anxiety and stress while creating a connection with my environment.
Through travel drawing I transform the present moment into lasting marks which transcend the current instant as I draw both Kim Chong Hak's whimsically rich paintings, the people in a crowded food hall or the rich landscape of the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
Title: Atlanta Botanical Garden 2, by Dawn Hunter, marker and pen on paper, 11" x 17"