Paper and Threads

These are the last London sketches that I wanted to post from our September trip.  All of the other pages of my sketchbook that I haven't scanned have drawings from our daily life with our grandchildren in my daughter's house.

Lion:  One of the recently refurbished and now uncovered lions from the center of Trafalgar square.  The tourists are still climbing all over them for photos.

Flower Cart:  A charming cart that is permanently set up along King's Road, Chelsea.  The red and blue wheels, which add charm, are just propped up against the actual cart.  While I was sitting on a small step at the corner, the only person who stopped to talk was an 8-10 year old boy who then had to catch up with his mother and brother.  He spent more time with me again on his return trip down the sidewalk - but Mom didn't seem really interested in letting him take time to ask all of his questions.

London Taxi:  I Love all of the gaily-colored London taxis, many with very interesting exteriors that are part of a total car advertisement.  This sketch was done from a photo while the taxi stopped for an instant to let off passengers.  It was only when I was drawing it that I noticed there was no light on top.

St. James Palace Guard:  We were walking by the Palace with my 3 year old grandson Henry when the guards changed shift.  I took a photo of the new guard when he got into position and then did this drawing from the photo.

Fish:  When we visited London in July, Osborne and Little Decorating Shop on King's Road had ice cream cones in their windows.  This time it was fish.  Each of the colored pieces in these drawings are separate fabric-wrapped pieces of cardboard or wood.  There were 4 types of fish as pictured here and each window had multiple fish of a single design.  I can't wait to see what their Holiday display is going to be.  I went into the store to ask permission to take a photo when I was done sketching and learned when the windows will change again.

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In May I did a quick sketch of my son and daughter-in-law's new house - an East Capital Hill row house.  They liked the sketch enough that I decided to paint it again on larger paper - and will deliver this sketch (done on 9 x 12") paper to them this week.   It was done with lots of love and best wishes for many, many happy years together in their great house.

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My husband and I enjoyed more and different museums on this second visit of 2006. 

British Library: I wanted to read an 1857 copy of a 1764 manuscript that described a prisoner exchange with the Ohio territory Indians during the French-Indian War.  My ancestor was one of the kidnapped colonists who was returned to her family during this exchange.  Only pencils are allowed in the Manuscript Reading Room, so while I was waiting to receive the manuscript, I sketched the book pillow on which all such "elderly" books must rest.  We now have British Library reader cards!

Imperial War Museum:  Our last visit was in 1970!  This time we took our 3 year old grandson who loved the interactive submarine.  We will return soon to see the Children at War (WWII) exhibit that we couldn't see easily when he was with us.

National Gallery: We visited parts of the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery and I decided I would like to try a copy of a simple Van Gogh painting to commemorate the visit.  I bought a postcard of this painting from the exhibit and sketched/painted it later in the day.

Somerset House-Courtauld Art Instutite:  The Raoul Dufy painting seemed like an appropriate painting to copy since the EDM challenge was to draw water and because I wanted to see how well I could mix and match paint colors. 

Somerset House-Gilbert Collection:  A medallion from the outside of the building on the River Terrace and one of the most beautiful pieces of jewelry in the current Tiffany exhibit.  I wasn't sure what the rules were about sketching the jewelry, so I sketched this image from the brochure while we had lunch in the River Terrace cafe.

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I love books and bookstores, and while the big superchains really allow you to browse and read all day, I like the personal selections and recommendations of independent bookstores.   This is one of several in my neighborhood.  I also love specialty food stores, but when I looked at my favorite green grocer/food shop, the facade just wasn't as interesting as I thought.  Too many piles of fruits and vegetables on large shelves across the front and no architectural interest above the level of the awning.

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Each of these sketches was done during approximately 30 minutes and then the watercolor wash was added later.  We saw Antony and Cleopatra at the Globe Theatre Bankside and had 30 minutes to wait along the embankment - with a wonderful view of St. Paul's Cathedral across the Thames. 

The second sketch is the roofline of houses along King's Road in Chelsea - directly across from Caffe Nero where we were having coffee.

The last sketch is a row of interesting shops across from another small cafe with outdoor tables in Pimlico.  My husband can be encouraged to stop for coffee while I sketch and he does a NY Times crossword puzzle.

Posted by Shirley at 3:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)