Hamasen, Kaohsiung

Hamasen (哈瑪星) is not a huge district but it's full of really interesting places. I first visited in December and while taking in the view from the Old Consulate Building. I decided I wanted to explore it a little deeper and draw it. What I found were 100 year old inns, a beautiful martial arts hall, Kaohsiung's first station, an abandoned foreigner cemetery, a pretty village climbing the hillside, the cutest ferry outside of Hong Kong, traditional fishing neighborhoods, red brick port buildings, and through a long tunnel a great sunset spot. I'm from a coastal town and have always liked ports but where I'm from the large ships anchor far out to sea. Here they pass right next to the seafront and I enjoyed adding a few to the drawing. I visited again in June to photograph areas I'd missed and explore Cijin. A couple of months later and this drawing is finished! The area is surrounded by the Shoushan hills (with their curious monkeys) so I adjusted the perspective a little to give them some height. On top is the Martyr's Shrine and the pagoda of Qianguang Temple, and beyond the hills Sun Yat Sen University fades out of view .