Kew Gardens

Kew Garden was a magical place. A beautiful, sunny and warm day made it extra special.

The trees on this property are exceptional. Well tended, well pruned so that the shape is intriguing.

A fountain in the lake in front of the Palm House. Cool enough to dress well, palm houses were too hot to enjoy for long.

Kew Palace. A small red brick Dutch style building. The gardens around it were great. This is a view of the house from the Thames side.

A different view of Kew Palace, with enormous trees nearby. This view is from the opposite side of the previous view.

Arched walkway with (I believe) roses. I would love to see it in summer.

A true Japanese building, moved to Kew, piece by piece. Placed in the bamboo area. Quite a few varieties of bamboo, showing that it is very temperate.

Interior of the Japanese building. The wood structural details were very interesting.

One of the Forest pathways. A beautiful late afternoon light cutting through the trees.

Queen Charlotte Cottage with long shadows from the sun setting.

Last but not least was the Ruined Arch, purposely built at a time when it was a fashion, now more ruined than ruins. We were real sleepiheads on the train home. a very satisfying day.

Sketch on, sketch on...

This next few drawings are from a visit to Hampstead Heath. We had gone to visit Kenwood House, and estate kept by the National trust. It has quiet an imressive collection of paintings, including a Vermeer of a girl playing a mandolin.

On the High Street, as we walked our way to Kenwood.

A church along the way.

Kenwood House, facing to the south, overlooks a small man made lake with a fake bridge crossing it. Funny, sets in the "wilderness".

A side porch facing the West. Lots of magpies here.

Another day come and gone. I am visiting the Bristish Museum. SO huge! I enjoy South American antiquities, so visited that, the Egyptian section and a wonderful exhibit of Japanese works spanning the ages.

Walking home from the Museum. Undecided as to colour or not. With the overcast skies, everything seemed to be grey.

This is a day with both Covent Garden and Kew Gardens. Above is Covent Garden Market. Sans people as you would not be able to see much of it otherwise. That amount of crowding is what prompted us to visit Kew.

Village of Kew. There was a Christmas Market there too, with trees and bakery and a great deal of people too! My next posting will be from visiting the garden itself. Loved it. I hope it shows in the drawings.

A few more days of sketching

At the side of St-Paul's

New and newer, The Guerkin as it is called by Londoners.

Down, down, down into the Underground.

Decorative elements on buildings.

Old and new 3, with the Shard in the background.

London traffic is WILD!

The Tower of London.

Tower Bridge.

In one of the Smithfield Basins.

Some fishing vessels also in the Smithfield basins.

 

 Weathervane

A closer look

One of the many Christmas markets around London

Inside the Tate Modern's huge entrance hall.

Looking in the other direction.

My style has been coming along as I draw more. I was pretty rusty at the beginning, but am more free now. If only I could get the photography right. Sigh!

Day 2 of my drawings

These are a few of the things that percolated into my head on day two. Even though I am drawing these at home, I am reliving the sounds, sights and smells of it all. I think damp is a big one that I am remembering.

It was our long walk day, so there was a lot to take in. some of it is jumbled together.

                                                                   Take a break, eh?

Old and New 1

                                                                     Old and new 2

After the fact. Drawings, watercolours and sketches

It's been a long time since I did any amount of regular sketching. I usually work out the paintings or carvings I am doing with sketches, but not in the same way as I would when traveling. I did a bit on the trip to Australia, but not much. I swore this time I would do more. But, it was only 10 days and I did not have enough hours in the day to sit somewhere to sketch. Even if it were summer, we had a lot to see and only so many hours in which to accomplish that. I consider all my photography to be my sketches for possible paintings. I know what I want to see and can pick out the bits I want from that photo.

So my project for this winter is to paint the scenes I liked and wanted to show in my own way. The progression of the drawing itself changes as I go along since I am quite rusty. It's been fun and very engaging to spend a few hours at a time to try to figure out how much detail and how much suggestion of detail. As I get comfortable again, it gets easier.

Our first day in and around Clapham South. The house we stayed in, the view from the bedroom and the side door. A walk in the evening showing us the charming area we were staying in. There were great amenities in the area.