A summer evening at Victoria Embankment Gardens - Wednesday 17 July 2019

Join us for early evening sketching (6 pm - 8 pm) at the Victoria Embankment Gardens by the River Thames.  Draw the Embankment area including Victoria Embankment Gardens, Whitehall Gardens, great views of central London from the Hungerford Bridge/Golden Jubilee Footbridges, and Charing Cross Station.

The event is free of charge, no need to book, just turn up with your art kit.

Where and when to meet: 

6 pm: Meet near the exit of Embankment Underground Station near the bottom of Villiers Street, not the riverside exit (see photograph above).  There is shelter inside the station if the weather is wet.

8 pm: Meet near the York Watergate inside Victoria Embankment Gardens (see photos at the head of this post, and below) if the weather is good, and inside the entrance of Embankment Underground Station if the weather is wet, to look at sketches done and take group photographs.

We can then decide where to go for refreshments if you wish to do so, as there are many cafes, bars and pubs nearby.

Options for drawing include:

There are public gardens running along the river on both sides of Embankment Station which have trees, flower beds, a bandstand, statues and views of the river.  Between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge the monuments are mostly of cultural figures.  The gardens south of Hungerford Bridge going towards the Houses of Parliament have more military monuments; maps and signs use the names Victoria Embankment Gardens and Whitehall Gardens for this area.

The York Watergate, designed by Inigo Jones in 1626 as part of the York House mansion, once provided direct access to boats on the Thames.  This shows how much the course of the Thames was changed by the building of the Thames Embankment in 1864-70.

The Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Footbridges on either side provide great views of central London in both directions.
If the weather is wet, there is some shelter under bridges, in bars and cafes in the area, and the option of drawing in the concourse of Charing Cross Station. 

Practical information:
The nearest stations are Embankment and Charing Cross.  There are many food shops, cafes, pubs and bars in this area, and public toilets inside Charing Cross Station.

This event is run by John Webb and Gafung Wong.

A summer evening at Victoria Embankment Gardens - Wednesday 17 July 2019