Holding Court

Pleasures of Past Times and Antiquarian Maps in Cecil Court, Charing Cross Road. I drew the top one on a last mini sketch crawl and thought I'd draw him a friend. If you don't already know Cecil Court, that is good because this narrow little street needs to be stumbled upon accidentally. Adds to the charm.

Holding Court

Drawings London on Location - Sketching Soho exhibition - Cinnamon Soho

I recently drew a picture for inclusion in a new exhibition at Cinnamon Soho, a modern and popular Indian restaurant near Carnaby Street. The exhibition, curated by Cristiana Bottigella, is a showcase of members of the 'Drawing London on Location' Meetup.com group. There's a lot of overlap between the Drawing London on Location group and Urban Sketchers, and it's worth signing up if you're hungry for more sketchcrawls, as their focus is on regular meet-ups (hence Meetup.com!).

I chose this viewpoint mainly for my vested interests as an animator; I was fascinated by the green building, which used to be Richard Williams' studio for many years, a pinnacle of the British animation industry. On the other side is just visible the red brick of St Patrick's Catholic church, which I also wanted to include for its attractive architecture. In the middle of the square is a statue of Charles II, carved when he was alive, and placed there when the area was first built (and originally named after him as King Square). However, I've still no idea what the odd Tudor-looking hut is for.

The Drawing London on Location exhibition is up from 27th April until 6th September, and takes 'Sketching Soho' as its theme, and features the work of over 20 different artists. You can find Cinnamon Soho at 5 Kingly Street.

Drawings London on Location - Sketching Soho exhibition - Cinnamon Soho