While Toronto’s streets are often captured by photographers and Google Street View, a young artist is setting out to visualize the city’s landmarks and often overlooked corners in a new way.
Connor Large, a recent University of Toronto grad, has been quietly documenting the city’s neighbourhoods through intricate and detailed urban sketches.
A post on Reddit featuring his detailed sketches of College Street near Spadina Avenue has gained traction, drawing dozens of comments from Toronto residents who recognized familiar landmarks and their memories tucked into the scene.
One commenter reminisced about their school days nearby, while others pointed out notable local businesses or shared stories of late-night walks through the area.
Originally from White Rock, B.C., Large moved to Toronto four years ago for university. He just finished his undergraduate degree in History and Anthropology at U of T, and while waiting for his convocation, he found himself with more time on his hands.
“Since Toronto, like every Canadian city at this point, requires you to spend a small fortune to go out and do anything at all, I thought urban sketching would be a fun way to spend my time,” he told Zoomer Media.
Although there are professional artists in his family, Large has no formal experience himself. “The great thing about urban sketching is that it is a fast and loose style of art that anyone can easily get into,” he explained. “Your art can be as meticulously detailed or as cartoony as you like. The point is that you are creating something specific to your life and surroundings.”
His work focuses not on the skyline or famous landmarks, but on the streets, storefronts, and pieces of daily life that define the city for us who live in it. “I just wanted to capture the more ‘mundane’ locations that are still, nonetheless, important aspects of daily life for many,” Large said.
“We exist at an interesting time, with all the talk about tariffs, buying local, buying Canadian. I argue that for the first time in years, people are beginning to more openly express pride in being Canadian once more, despite the many flaws of the nation.”
His decision to sketch the city’s streets was driven in part by his upcoming move to Japan, where he’ll be working for a toy company. “As embarrassing as it is, I just wanted some nice art for my soon-to-be Japanese apartment,” he admitted. “I wanted something to remember this city by.”
When he couldn’t find existing artwork that reflected his experience of Toronto, he decided to just create it himself. From late nights at Robarts Library to slices of pesto-covered pizza at Fresca, Large says that his drawings are like love letters to places that defined his student life.
“I chose to depict all of these places that, for one reason or another, are special to me,” he said. “And after reading all of the comments of various people recounting fond memories of these places after posting my work online… I would say I am not alone in this sentiment.”
The sketches that sparked attention on Reddit took several days to complete, while others take just a few hours. Large is now working on a new piece featuring indie bookstores in downtown Toronto, and has plans for a larger drawing of the buildings at U of T.
If you’ve been wondering, yes, you can buy his art. “I am currently working on preparing prints of my more popular works and have begun accepting commissions,” Large said. “I’ve also been contacted by various people, including business owners, who want drawings of their stores or places meaningful to them.” He invites anyone interested to contact him at [email protected].
Aside from being a creative outlet, urban sketching reflects a deeper belief in the young artist.
“I firmly believe people need hobbies. As a 21-year-old in our digital age, I’ll admit I’m too attached to my phone and intensively play video games from time to time. But whether it’s woodworking, sewing, gardening, mushroom farming, watchmaking, baking, scale-model making, drawing, building drones and RC aircraft, or any of the other hands-on activities I’ve tried over the years, there’s an essential human satisfaction in creating something tangible in the physical world,” he said.
“Hobbies, I argue, don’t just make you a happier, more interesting, and well-rounded person; they also make you more human. The ability to create is a wonderful thing that should not be taken for granted. Besides, you never know if that passion project may lead to your future career as it did with mine.”
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