Monday 24 February 2020

CANCELLED: Let's draw Granary Square - Saturday 25 April 2020


UPDATE: because of the coronavirus outbreak, this sketchcrawl is CANCELLED and our 2020 sketchcrawl programme is SUSPENDED.  






Options for drawing:

The area has interesting contrasts between the Victorian industrial architecture and the very new developments.


Regent’s Canal runs through the King's Cross area and is lined with boats and old buildings.
Coal Drops Yard is a new shopping centre designed by Thomas Heatherwick, which uses buildings originally built to store coal for the gas works; the original gasometers can still be seen.
The House of Illustration (admission charge for exhibitions) is to the east of the Central St Martins building, next to Waitrose, which is also housed in old industrial buildings. 
The Canopy Market is next to Waitrose.

New developments are still in progress.

If the weather is wet, there is cover inside Coal Drops Yard, at the Canopy Market, and under the canal bridges.

Practical information: 

The nearest underground/national rail station is King's Cross.  There are various cafes, restaurants and market stalls.  There are toilets in Coal Drops Yard and at the back of the Canopy Market.

This day is organised jointly with Urban Sketchers Cambridge, and run by Jo Dungey (Urban Sketchers London) and Yasemin Gyford of Urban Sketchers Cambridge.

The photographs and the sketch of Coal Drops Yard are by Jo Dungey.


Share/Bookmark

Tuesday 18 February 2020

We drew at the Wallace Collection and St James Church - February 2020

(Nicky Browne writes) On Saturday 15 February 2020, a large number of London Urban Sketchers descended on the Wallace Collection in Central London.  There were at least a dozen new faces joining us who included a visiting Australian Urban Sketcher.

The museum has a significant art collection with many well-known pieces, such as Frans Hals' Laughing Cavalier and Fragonard's Girl on a Swing. Artefacts, armour, furniture and opulent curtains with huge tassels fill this exotic and unusual museum. "Gosh" a visitor said to me, "everyone is really concentrating hard!"

The high winds of Storm Denis limited the number of hardy outdoor toilers. However, there was just sufficient time before the rain for some splendid renderings of the architecturally significant Victorian fire station, now the Chiltern Firehouse Hotel, and of St James Church in Spanish Place. The church also welcomed us to draw inside and quite a number of sketchers challenged themselves with the complex Victorian Gothic interior.


The day was run by Nicky Browne and Sasala Wickramasinghe. Photographs are by Sasala Wickramasinghe and Jo Dungey, and the sketch inside St James Church is by Sasala Wickramasinghe.





Share/Bookmark

Wednesday 12 February 2020

CANCELLED - Let's draw Elephant & Castle - Saturday 14th March


Drawing by Isabel Carmona

Update 13 March 2020: This sketchcrawl has been CANCELLED. This decision was taken in light of the government's emergency COBRA meeting on the Coronavirus, which has changed official policy from 'Containment' to 'Delay'. For more details, kindly see our blog post on the decision to cancel.  



In March we visit Elephant and Castle, a very busy urban location and transport hub. The whole square area is a mix of architecture of various times , including the old entrance to the E&C station, the brutalist tower blocks, Erno Goldfinger modernist Alexander Fleming House, now known as Metro Central Heights. Also the Strata tower with the non operational windmills at the top and any of the street scenes of surrounding area would be good subjects. The meeting point for the afternoon, Mercato Metropolitano is a food place with communal seating where there are always plenty of people to watch and sketch.


All in all it promises to be a very varied day.

Elephant and Castle

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

The steps of the Metropolitan Tabernacle

Key times and meeting points for the day:

11am: Meet on the steps of the Metropolitan Tabernacle (see photograph above) which is opposite the entrance to the shopping centre.

1pm: Meet back at the Tabernacle to look at drawings done so far.

3.30pm: Meet inside Mercato Metropolitano (see photograph below) to look at drawings done, and take group photographs.


We can stay here for coffee and chat after the sketchcrawl. 

Inside part of the Mercato Metropolitano

Options for drawing include:

E&C Shopping Centre
The Faraday Memorial
The old entrance to E&C underground station
                                                                             
The Metropolitan Tabernacle
                                                                             


Practical information: Elephant and  Castle underground station is on the Northern and Bakerloo lines, and the area is also served by a national rail station and many bus routes.
Cafes and toilets in the shopping centre and at Mercato Metropolitano.

The day is run by: Isabel Carmona and Lis Watkins



Share/Bookmark