Drawn of the Dead

One thing I enjoy is drawing movie locations - the more obscure the better. Of course in London there's plenty to discover. I'm also a big fan of Simon Pegg, so with Halloween on the way, I thought it would be a good time to finally sketch some locations from seminal Zom-Com ("zombie comedy") Shaun of the Dead.
When I moved into the Haringay area 10 months ago, I was excited to learn that a lot of the Shaun movie was shot near where I now live. The one that grabbed my attention was Shaun's house itself, a few streets away from Crouch End Broadway. The street features in two great identical long takes of Shaun walking from his house to the shop and back, the first time when things are normal, the second when the zombie outbreak has begun.

there's a different gate now...

There were no zombies in sight when I started sketching, but I did feel a bit odd to be drawing a purely residential view with no obvious landmark or attraction - still, no one looked twice at what I was doing. It started raining by the end, but I persevered under an umbrella.

The most well known location of the movie is The Winchester, which in actual fact was filmed down in South London, in New Cross, coincidentally near where I previously used to live. However, I was intrigued to discover the real Winchester pub on Archway Road, less than 5 minutes from my current house. Although no filming was done here, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost used to be regulars and it was here the idea for the film was born.

Built in 1881, I especially love the original iron scrollwork above the door. The pub's been closed for a few years now it seems, but lately there's been signs of its ...re-animation ...ha ha ha ..sorry, zombie joke. Anyway, yes, over the summer, there was some concerted building work going on with the 'luxury' flats above, the brickwork was all cleaned, and the pub was given a brand new paintjob. While I was there sketching, I could see some activity inside, suggesting it's grand re-opening is imminent. I'll probably pop in for a pint to see what it's like, although no doubt the days of Frost and Pegg drinking in the corner are long gone...

Drawn of the Dead

up the archway road

On my full last day in London, I took the tube down to Archway to meet my cousin Dawn Painter for some sketching around Highgate. This was my old neighbourhood before we moved to the States., and I still love it around there. I used to live on Hornsey Lane, a few doors down from the bridge above, Archway Bridge. Of course, this bridge is better known as Suicide Bridge. Unfortunately, it's a name more commonly earned than I realised before I lived there. Dawn and I sketched beneath the bridge, beside the busy Archway Road, where the 134 bus charges down on its way into central London. Because I lived higher up Highgate Hill I would not come up this way much, so it was fun to come back and explore a bit more. We popped into one store full of second hand stuff where I saw a full set of Worzel Gummidge dvds. We grabbed a sandwich at Tescos and sat opposite the Jackson Lane building, an arts centre not far from Highgate tube station.   We walked further up to Ripping Yarns, an amazing antiquarian bookstore stacked to the brim with wonderful books. Hardly enough room inside to turn around. They specialize in old children's books but also have lots of other books as well. We spent a lot of time in there, I was looking through many of the old annuals, Roy of the Rovers, the Beano, Topper, all those I used to have on my own shelves. We sat opposite the bookshop and sketched it, and then it was time to go. I had to pack my bags to fly back to America.

up the archway road