Friday 1 June 2012

London sketchcrawl

Saturday saw the first London sketchcrawl - so many people! All excited about drawing on location in London on a hot sunny day. I met lots of people, some very experienced, and some new to location drawing. When we met up at the end of the day the range and quality of the work on show was very exciting.

I was set up to draw at A3/A2 size - when I'm spending the day drawing I like to work quite big, and an A3 sketchbook is a good compromise between portability and size -it can open up to give an A2 size spreads. My drawing materials, as usual, were quite mixed. Each drawing is a bit of an exploration of media for me, I'm never content with using the same materials or approach in my drawings.

I started down on the Embankment, looking downriver at the hazy light off the water, and  the strong shadows. This drawing used chinagraph, charcoal pencil, brushpens filled with diluted ink, and pigment powder. I think it would have been a better drawing if I had ignored the ship's stern on the right. I should remember that drawing is as much about lying as telling the truth!


Then, finally finding my way into Middle Temple I made a quick drawing before lunch using charcoal. The midday sun was very hot, and the contrast of light and shade down the lane dominated my view. The site of my drawing  is apparently the location used in the TV drama series, 'Silk'. I was informed of this by a couple who were there with the sole aim of tracking down all the locations used in the series...


For my last drawing of the day I sat in the shade by St Bride's Institute and drew the old tree that grows in the churchyard of St Bride's Church. This drawing is A2, on a double spread of the sketchbook, and I threw everything at it, trying to represent the light/shade and the intriguing space of the stair well and the view through to Fleet Street. Media included ink, charcoal, black pigment, white correction pen, white wax crayon, pen, fingers, and eventually knife!


I look forward to the next sketchcrawl!
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1 comment:

  1. Thank you for an enjoyable post

    The tree has a personality that perks me up as soon as I scroll down to it.

    ReplyDelete

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