Sketches of Vinh City with a love for the city streets.

One day, strolling through the streets of Vinh City, you might quite well come across Tran Hoang Kim with his pen, watercolors, and sketchbook in hand. This young man in his 20s doesn't choose bustling, crowded places, but quietly seeks out moss-covered street corners, old apartment buildings, sidewalk cafes… and sees the simple, very Vinh-like beauty that we often pass by without truly noticing. A Vinh City that is both familiar and incredibly special emerges in Kim's sketches, making any city dweller who sees them feel a deep affection and longing for it.

Tran Hoang Kim was born in 1993 in Thanh Chuong district. For the past 12 years, Kim studied and worked in Hanoi, only recently deciding to return to Vinh City to start his career. Vinh City is not where he was born and raised, nor has he had much time to truly immerse himself in the city's spirit, but even with just a few memories from his visits, Kim has developed a strange affection for this place. Kim sees the quiet beauty of the streets, corners, and alleys… and longs for the day when he can personally paint this city with all his love. Now, having returned to settle in Vinh City, he has the time to realize that dream.

Since his time as a student at Hanoi University of Architecture and later as an architect, Tran Hoang Kim has been familiar with sketching. Sketching is a form of quick note-taking using drawings, capturing immediate emotions and thoughts, requiring only a pen or pencil and watercolors. Its convenience and suitability led Kim to choose sketching as the medium for depicting Vinh City, as inspiration can strike unexpectedly during his wanderings through the streets.

For the past few months, outside of work, Kim has been spending her time outdoors. Sometimes she'd leisurely ride her old motorbike, sometimes she'd sit behind a motorbike taxi driver, and sometimes she'd quietly stroll along the sidewalk… Getting used to the slower pace of life after 12 years of studying and working in a bustling city like Hanoi has given Kim time to reflect on herself, and through that, to deeply observe this familiar yet unfamiliar city of Vinh, listening to the city's rhythmic breaths.

And Kim paints, transferring her thoughts, joys, and sorrows into brushstrokes and paper. Streets like Quang Trung, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Dang Thai Than, Le Loi, Tran Phu… under Kim’s pen become strangely vibrant. The temple of Emperor Quang Trung, the ancient citadel of Vinh, the Diec Pagoda, the Hong Son Temple… appear on the page majestic, ancient, yet incredibly poetic. Even the markets: Vinh Market, Quang Trung Market, the university market… appear in Kim’s paintings with all their hustle and bustle, noise, and realism, so very Vinh.

Kim painted utility poles with tangled wires cutting across the deep blue sky, flower carts carrying autumn to the city, a peeling wall, a lone chair in a charming cafe, and rows of jasmine trees leaning in the gentle sunlight…

Particularly moving are the sketches of working people: two cleaning ladies chatting after a hard day's work; a motorbike taxi driver resting on the sidewalk waiting for customers; a woman selling sticky rice busily serving rice while chatting and laughing; a woman pushing a donut cart on the sidewalk, resting her chin on her hand while waiting for customers to stop by… Kim sketches everything that inspires him, but most often he sketches working people, because, as he confides: “I don’t know why, but I like the hustle and bustle of making a living, the circumstances, the hardships and struggles… Perhaps there is human kindness in it!”

Kim is an avid reader, eager to explore and discover Vinh City, so his sketches are both informative and emotionally rich. Even the quickest sketches are never hasty or superficial; on the contrary, the genre demands keen observation, solid artistic ability, and a deep understanding of life. Kim doesn't consider himself an outstanding sketch artist, but he sketches with all his love and hope for this city – which he considers his second home.

Looking at Tran Hoang Kim's sketches, one feels as if all their senses about the city of Vinh are awakened, surprised to realize that familiar things are so subtly beautiful, a simple beauty hidden amidst the flow of life that we often overlook. The sketches are not elaborate in their lines or complex in their colors, yet they still convey a profound, gentle soul, evoking countless stories from memories.

To date, Kim has sketched approximately 50 pictures of Vinh city streets. To commemorate her affection for this city and to inspire and spread cultural inspiration to the city's youth, Tran Hoang Kim created a fan page and posted her unique sketches there. Although the fan page was only created a few months ago, it has already attracted a considerable number of followers and comments filled with warm sharing.

“Through the fan page, many people who enjoy sketching, drawing, and love Vinh City have messaged me, chatting about common topics, which led to connections and interactions in real life. As a result, in this city, I've made many new friends and become more attached to the place where I've chosen to settle down long-term,” Kim said.

Thanks to his sketches, Kim feels like he has truly become a part of this city. During his days wandering and "documenting" the rhythm of city life, Kim became a regular at the coffee shops in the alleyways, at the sticky rice vendor in front of the elementary school, at the motorbike taxi driver who stopped under the bauhinia tree… And he listened to their stories, just trivial everyday matters, but that's the essence of existential life, the complexities of reality, the joys and sorrows… Kim listened, felt, reflected a part of his own life in them, and felt as if he already belonged to Vinh! Reading the statuses on Kim's sketching fan page, one is moved by the simple language:

"Early in the morning, he noticed that autumn had arrived unexpectedly and quickly."

Unexpectedly, after one nightThis city, which is usually sunny in the first half of the day, had such a beautiful day.

Father pushed the cart out onto the street, while Mother sat gathering dry firewood, warming up a bowl of hot soup for Tý before he went to school; smoke billowed across the porch.

The kind of weather these days leaves people with no choice but to seek peace and quiet.”

"Early morning atVinh, the scorching sun of the past two weeks heralds the arrival of another dry summer. Father pushes his bicycle cart out into the street, mother sits gathering dry firewood, reheating a bowl of mung bean sweet soup…

The weather here is really strange; it's sunny all the time, but there hasn't been a single rain shower.

My mother said, "The sun will last until August, my child!"

If things continue like this, I can't bear to leave my hometown...”

The story of Kim, and his sketches of Vinh City, is simple yet evocative. As Kim says, he sketches with love for the city streets and cherishes the hope of one day compiling a unique collection of sketches of Vinh to publish in a book. A Vinh City artbook awaits, Kim!