Pizza Chicken Fry-up

Old skool restaurant in Mile End Road, just past the yellow bridge (forerunner of the Garden Bridge scheme). I just love the black and white tiles and the orange. And the fact that it's ordinary. The Happy Chippy round the corner in Grove Road is now a pizza place in dark matt grey paint. I never thought I'd get nostalgic about tacky photos on acrylic signage, but I have.

Pizza Chicken Fry-up

UPDATE: re Let's Draw Canary Wharf 16 January 2016

This is an update on places to meet, places to sketch and the weather for Let's Draw Canary Wharf - 16th January 2016. The VENUES FOR LUNCH AND FINISH HAVE CHANGED.

The weather forecast

First the good news. BBC Weather is predicting sunshine all day. The bad news is it goes with temperatures of about 3 degrees!

This is fine for sketching so long as you dress appropriately!

• It's ESSENTIAL you dress with layers, wear your thermals and a warm hat! My fingerless gloves with mitten tops will also be coming out with me tomorrow. 
• you have insulation between your rear and a very cold fixed seat outdoors. I also recommend carrying least a paper to sit on or seating pad! Thick trousers also help. Otherwise you must stand or need a stool.

Venues

I trecked round Canary Wharf on Wednesday to check out all the venues in detail - and took lots of photos so I can describe them to you. Plus I have maps for a few people!

If you have never been before the layout is VERY CONFUSING - but well signposted.

This is the Google Map of venues detailed below


I do recommend you grab one of the map guides as soon as you arrive. They're very easy to find in the shopping malls. I've already picked up some which I will bring with me but it won't be enough for everybody.


Please remember the whole of Canary Wharf is PRIVATE PROPERTY. The rules for what we can and cannot do may be different from the public domain (which this is not). However I've never had problems taking photos.

Start Venue - 11:00am at Canary Wharf DLR Ticket Concourse (Cabot Place)

We'll meet next to the clock inbetween the UP escalators to the platforms 4 & 5 at Canary Wharf DLR Station (ie NOT the Jubilee Line). It's on the same level as the Oyster Card readers and one floor below the level of the platforms.  So if you're arriving via this route you need to come down the escalators and walk across to the up escalators side. There's lots of room in the vicinity for a large group to congregate and not block people getting around.

This is what the clock looks like - next to the escalator and stairs UP to platforms 4 and 5.

The DLR Station Clock on the ticket concourse below the platform level
and between the escalators going up to the platforms

You can go back up the stairs (no need to use your Oyster card if you are not travelling) and sketch the amazing architecture of the DLR station from the platforms (see below)

Or you can walk out the doors to the right of this pic and visit the Sky Garden at Crossrail Place (see below)

Lunchtime - 1:00pm at Jubilee Place Shopping Mall

This is the below ground level of the Jubilee Place Shopping Mall
- lots of places to get food, hot soup and hot drinks
- and it's VERY WARM!

I'm CHANGING THE VENUE FOR LUNCH from the Sky Garden to Jubilee Place Shopping Centre (which is below ground level) for two reasons:

1. It's LOVELY AND WARM! I recommend this as a place to stay close to if you need to go and warm up periodically for 10 minutes or so during the day!
2. It has lots of places where people can get food and hot drinks e.g. M&S; Starbucks, Costa Coffee etc. We'll also be meeting up here afterwards (more below)

I suggest we meet near these columns.

This is what the entrance to the Shopping Centre looks like in the centre of Jubilee Place Park. Note how you get in as you go as finding your way out again is not obvious!

Entrance to the Jubilee Place Shopping Mall - and warmth and food

FINISH - 3:30pm Canary Wharf Underground Station (West Entrance)

I'm CHANGING THE FINISH VENUE to the Jubilee Line TfL Station between Jubilee Place and Middle Dock - for those going home on the tube. Beware there are three entrances and there are two photographic clues to which is the right one below

 Again we have lots of space to congregate near the station and lots to sketch for those who get there early!

Jubilee Line Underground Station (West Entrance)
- between Jubilee Place Park and Middle Dock (and close to the DLR station)

If when facing the station (as in the above photo) you can see these clocks if you look left then you've got the right entrance to the Underground!

If you look left while facing the underground entrance and can see these clocks you are at the right entrance!
Walk past these clocks, through the doors and turn left to get back to the DLR Station

AFTERWARDS - 4:pm Crush Fit Food

So we'll walk from the station back into the park and down the escalators to where we met and lunch and this time we'll go to Crussh Fit Food and Juice Bar Unit 21 Jubilee Place. I had a good look round for a suitable place to meet up afterwards. This was the only place that didn't have lots of teeny tables.

This is what it looks like - you can also see it the centre of the previous view of the Jubilee Place shopping Mall - below ground view.

It also does hot soups and coffees and teas!

Crussh in Jubilee Place

Places to Sketch

Canary Wharf DLR

Use the up escalators from where we meet to get to the platforms

I've checked and there's nothing to stop people going up to the platforms to sketch - you don't need to use your Oyster card. I do recommend you stay well out of the way of people who are travelling. There's a good amount of space at either end of the platforms which don't get busy.

DLR platforms and concave roof - plus note the fixed seats

The view from the other end of the platform

Crossrail Place Sky Garden

To get to the Sky Garden:

• face the clock on the ticket concourse at the DLR station and then turn right and walk through the doors and down to the street
• Turn right and walk up to Crossrail Place - the long covered bridge to Crossrail Place (marked as Adams Plaze Bridge on the map). Walk down the bridge past the photography exhibition of wildlife at Canary Wharf. 

the entrance to Crossrail Place - the bridge which leads to the Sky Garden.
There are great views of the architecture from this level

There are great views across the dock from the windows at the end of the bridge.

Inside Crossrail Place

• turn right and go up the up escalator
• at the top you come out at the side of a bar/restaurant. Walk straight ahead and you'll come to this view of the Sky Garden. 
• The roof is partially open and partially closed and you're protected from stiff breezes. There are lots of seats to sit on around the garden - and there are toilets!

You can sit under one end of the Sky Garden and sketch the geometry and the tree ferns!

If you enter the "Big Easy" bar and restaurant, they may open up their end terrace for you if you buy something to eat or drink. You can then draw this view

The view from the Big Easy - across West India Quay DLR Station

Winter Lights

The Winter Lights are not going to be on until 4pm. I didn't see much evidence of them and some were still being put up. The best place to see them is Jubilee Place Park and Montgomery Square.

Winter Lights Jubilee Place

Ice skating rink - Canada Place Park

You can stand around the ice rink and see through perspex windows around the larger part of the rink. There are also limited places to get alongside the rink. Those wanting to stay indoors to sketch skaters might like to investigate the Wahacca Bar at Canary Wharf (in the background of this photo). I didn't go inside so I don't know if it works as a venue but it seems to be the only place which provides a top down perspective

The ice rink is built up above the ground - viewing is through windows around the rink

The big dig in West India Dock

You can see this from Montgomery Square. It's now much bigger than when I last saw it in November.

The Big Dig in the Dock - lots of cranes

UPDATE: re Let's Draw Canary Wharf 16 January 2016

Let's Draw Canary Wharf - 16th January 2016

The next Let's Draw event for urban sketchers in London will be at Canary Wharf on Saturday 16th January 2016. 

PLEASE NOTE THIS IMPORTANT UPDATE RE CHANGE OF VENUES FOR LUNCH AND FINISH
UPDATE: re Let's Draw Canary Wharf 16 January 2016

_____________________________________

Our events are always FREE to anybody who would like to turn up and have a go at urban sketching.

Here are 

• the details of venues and times for start/lunch/finish 
• more information about what's on offer to sketch.

Note that sketching the Lumiere 'objects d'art' will be best after 4pm so I'm assuming those that want to sketch them at their best will want to stay later. 

I'm assuming some people may not have been to Canary Wharf before so am providing a bit more information than usual. I'd make very sure you have access to a printout of a good map - or one on your phone - as it can be confusing at times - although well signposted.

Canary Wharf Station

TIMES & PLACES 

• START venue/time: Canary Wharf Station @ 11:00 UPDATE: next to the clock on the ticket concourse between the up escalators to the platforms
• LUNCH: 1:00pm - Crossrail Sky Garden - in the North Dock (semi-circular seating area - see photo) You will see signposts to the Sky Garden.  UPDATE: in the below ground eating area of the Jubilee Shopping Mall - entrance in Jubilee Place
• FINISH: 3:30pm - Canary Wharf Station UPDATE: Next to the West Entrance to Canary Wharf Underground Station - between Jubilee Place and Middle Dock
• AFTERWARDS: 4:00pm I'm going to try and locate a place to have a drink where we can see the Lumiere Crussh in Jubilee Place Shopping Mall

See UPDATE: re Let's Draw Canary Wharf 16 January 2016 for photographs of what different places look like.

[Please note: the Sketchcrawls Page is now called "Let's draw London in 2016"]

Crossrail Sky Garden amphitheatre semi-circular seating
- good for sitting eat sandwiches and a photo at lunchtime!

MAPs

• Let's Draw Canary Wharf (on Google Maps)  Please print this out or make sure you have saved it on your phone
• Do have a look at where the public art is on the estate - some of it is stunning 
• Art Map Artworks 1-20
• Art Map Artworks 21-65 
• Winter Lights Map  (for those staying after 4pm)

Click this map to see a larger version of where the Winter Lights are at Canary Wharf
Source: http://canarywharf.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/canary-wharf-arts-events-winter-lights-map.pdf

For those wanting to orientate themselves relative to how the docks sued to be here's a map of the docks in 1899

Isle of Dogs in 1899
The Sky Garden is located in what was then the West India - Import Dock
The two parks are either side and overlapping what was the West India Export Dock
The South Dock -where the Big Dig is happening used to be called West India -South  Dock.

More information - a summary

Websites:

• Canary Wharf  
• Winter Lights at Canary Wharf
• Ice Rink
• Canary Wharf - installations of public art on the estate

Refreshments: This is the Store Guide for where everything is. Sandwiches can be bought from:

• Marks and Spencer (Jubilee Place Shopping Mall)
• Waitrose (Canada Place Shopping Mall)
• meals can be had at various other places of refreshment

Toilets: These are not so obvious. However, there are public toilets in all the shopping malls at Canary Wharf. They are located as follows:

• Cabot Place, Mall Level -1, behind Citibank
• Canada Place, Mall Level -1, at the end of the corridor opposite Robert Dyas
• Churchill Place, Mall Level -1, behind James Shoe Care
• Jubilee Place, Mall Level -1, adjacent to Gourmet Burger Kitchen

Travel:

• Canary Wharf - getting here
• Docklands Light Railway - The DLR network runs from Bank and Tower Gateway to Stratford, Beckton and Lewisham. For some of the trains the Canary Wharf station is the point where you change - so it's BIG!
• Tube: Jubilee Line - link lists journey times
• Bus:135, 277, D3, D7, D8 
• Transport for London's Plan a Journey
• Parking: park your car at the weekend in the car parks. You can get three hours free at the weekend if you spend more than £10 in any of the shops/cafes and get your ticket validated. 

More Information - specific places / installations

Canary Wharf DLR Station 

This is a large station for the Docklands Light Railway in the centre of Canary Wharf with some amazing architecture.

Note this is NOT the Canary Wharf Jubilee Line station.

Crossrail Sky Garden

The Crossrail Sky Garden was opened this summer.

View of the Sky Garden. It contains two of the light installations in January

The Big Dig - South Dock

There's a big going on at present in the South Dock - presumably to provide foundations for another skyscraper.  Great for those who like construction and machinery to sketch!

See the map for the location where this photo was taken from in November. The three cranes on the right are iconic and preserved from the days of the docks. On the left you can see part of the O2 Arena.

The Big Dig in South Dock - from the edge of Montgomery Square

The Ice Rink

You can visit and sketch skaters on London’s largest outdoor ice rink Ice Rink Canary Wharf in Canada Square Park.

Skaters are good fun to sketch as although they keep moving they also keep making the same repeated movements and after a while you find you are sketching a bit of people and then waiting for them to come round again so you can finish them off!

(I'm checking whether or not we need a ticket to watch and sketch the skaters. You don't need a ticket at other ice rinks - but worth checking!)

Canary Wharf - Winter Lights 

This is an exhibition of 18 light installations which has just been installed and is on until 22 January. The best effect will be enjoyed by anybody who decides to stay late.  I suspect this will be decided by the weather and the best place to view them from somewhere warm!

• FREE/Daily (Best viewed 4-9pm), Throughout Canary Wharf
• This is the Winter Lights Map 
• This is a preview of the Winter Lights at Canary Wharf in the Evening Standard 

My understanding is that this event is associated with the Lumiere London event which runs from 14-17 January in Central London.


If you have any queries please send them to the contact email address in the side column or on the sketchcrawls page.

Let's Draw Canary Wharf - 16th January 2016

Let's Draw London in 2016

This is the provisional list of sketchcrawls and dates in 2016. Below you'll find places that we plan to visit each month and the date of the sketchcrawl where this is now definite.


More about what's Involved in organised and leading an USK London event at the end of this post.

MONTH	LET'S DRAW LONDON: PROPOSED LOCATIONS IN 2016 These may change over the course of the year
16th January	Canary Wharf  This has lots of areas with interesting architecture under cover. Examples include: the Crossrail Sky Garden) and the showpiece Canary Wharf station designed by Sir Norma Foster Crossrail Sky Garden plus "the big dig in the dock" (cranes below the water level don't happen that often!) The big dig in the dock last month PLUS a skating rink and the installation of Winter Lights
20th February	The Wallace Collection and Manchester Square Sketching in the Wallace Collection by Katherine Tyrrell
19th March	St. Pancras and British Library (under cover) St Pancras Station by James Hobbs
16th April	The Galleries: Royal Academy,  White Cube, Christies (King Street) and St. James Royal Academy - courtyard of Burlington House, Piccadilly by Katherine Tyrrell
14th May	Parliament, the Bridges and Big Ben: Houses of Parliament+ Lambeth Bridge + Westminster Bridge PLUS additional option re. Loughton Festival
18th June	Richmond: Richmond Green to Richmond Bridge - a walk along the river  Plus an option to sketch from Richmond Hill - a view protected by an act of parliament Richmond Bridge and Terrace Gardens by Nathan Brenville
23rd July - pre Symposium (provisional)	Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace via The Mall, Horseguards and Green Park This is a repeat of last August's sketchcrawl which worked very well We'll be investigating what dates work best for those coming to the UK to attend the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Manchester - who'd also like to come to a sketchcrawl in London. Admiralty Arch - at the end of The Mall - by Lis Watkins
20th August	Different perspectives on Greenwich- see Let's Draw Greenwich - details of where and when to meet and places to sketch Meet at 11.00am, 1pm and 3.30pm under the bows of the Cutty Sark. More details follow the link to the full blog post - http://urbansketchers-london.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/lets-draw-greenwich.html
17th September	Little Venice and Paddington Basin Little Venice and Paddington Basin from Ladbroke Grove by Nick Kobyluch
15th October	Exploring Smithfield.
12th November	MI6 Building, Vauxhall Bridge and Tate Britain  (under cover options available within Tate Britain) MI6 Building - Spy Central! Opposite Tate Britain and adjacent to Vauxhall Bridge
10th December	Christmas in Covent Garden:Covent Garden / London Transport Museum / Royal Opera House Terrace - views down on to Covent Garden (under arcade and other under cover options) The view of the Transport Museum and Covent Garden from the terrace of the Royal Opera House

What's Involved in organised and leading an USK London event

As indicated previously, Nathan Brenville has left London for a new life in Spain and we are now actively looking for new people to help out with the organisation and leading of the sketchcrawls.


Here's what's involved in organising and leading a "Let's Draw" event for London Urban Sketchers.

It's absolutely OK for more than one person to agree to take on responsibility for an event if two or three people would like to work together. We'd be happy to advice

What needs doing

• find the best places for a large group to assemble at the beginning, lunchtime and the end. It needs to be somewhere where we don't obstruct other people
• find the places to go if it rains!
• a blog post beforehand - to provide guidance on where and when. You can ask for help with images for the post.
• take photos of people and sketches on the day - at lunchtime and at the end - and upload them to the Urban Sketchers Flickr Group Pool afterwards
• a blog post afterwards - to record the event and show what happened

You need to be....

• a regular participant in the group i.e. somebody who sketches London regularly and has
• either posted work to the Facebook Group and
• or has regularly attended Let's Draw events in 2015
• somebody who knows and observes the Urban Sketchers Manifesto
• somebody who knows the area well - or is prepared to research it in advance - we all need to know the good places to sketch!
• OK about talking to people and answering lots of questions
• Punctual - and there to provide advice to people at the beginning 
• Willing to 
• research the location e.g. where are the public toilets / places to get sandwiches and hot drinks before, during and afterwards!
• sketch less and help out more on the day

If you think you'd be interested in helping out please contact us via a comment below or speak to Katherine Tyrrell or James Hobbs at any of the Let's Draw events.

Let's Draw London in 2016

Hertford Union Canal - City High Rise and Canal Boats

View of the City of London and the Hertford Union Canal from Three Colts Bridge
pen and ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine sketchbook | © Katherine Tyrrell

Here in East London, we have an awful lot of very colourful canal boats tied up along the sides of the Hertford Union and Regent Canals.

If I sit at Three Colts Bridge - between Gunmaker Lane and Victoria Park - I can also see the 'Gherkin' and 'Cheese Grater' in the City of London

However I'm practising drawing water at the moment.......

.....and Canada Geese in perspective!

Hertford Union Canal - City High Rise and Canal Boats

What to see and sketch on Sunday at Trinity Buoy Wharf

Urban Sketchers London is participating in Draw Britain Now - a big drawing event on Sunday 16th November 2014 at Trinity Buoy Wharf - between 12 and 4pm.

Trinity Buoy Wharf is on the western side of the mouth of the River Lee (where the boats are - bottom right)
Opposite the O2 in the image below
Click to see an even larger picture

Anybody can come along and do a sketchcrawl with Urban Sketchers London (a good option for those who like to do lots of sketch and draw whatever takes their fancy in whatever order they choose - you choose how you record the wharf)

You can draw the historic wharf with the Dining Room Drawing Club

People are also participating in a free Getting Started with Drawing workshop with The Independent Art School 

The event has been organised in collaboration with The Campaign for Drawing, Trinity Buoy Wharf (Urban Space Management) and The Guild of St. George.

If you tweet about this event on Sunday can you please also use

• the #The_Big_Draw hashtag if you want your tweet retweeted by the Campaign for Drawing - Twitter: @CampaignDrawing
• #urbsketchlondon if you want your tweet retweeted by Urban Sketchers London - Twitter: @UrbSketchLondon

The Trinity Buoy Wharf account is @artsTBW

What you can sketch

Here are some things you can see and sketch at the Sketchcrawl on Sunday at Trinity Buoy Wharf in East London.

Trinity Buoy Wharf: Some of the main locations

• Trinity Buoy Wharf Jubilee Pier - has views of The O2 and the River Thames - sort of obvious really when you see the location (see top pic)!  (There is no clipper service at the weekend so it's possible this may be closed - but the views are still visible from the bank - as is the Pier!)
• A lighthouse -the only one in London!  It was built in 1866 to be a place to test new forms of lighting for lighthouses. This is where the 19th-century physicist Michael Faraday conducted optical experiments.
• Two lightships - the Lightships LV93 and LV95 are moored here - one on the Thames side and one on the River Lea side
• Container City - featured in numerous television programmes, brightly painted live/work spaces in stacked containers (More info).  The stacked containers of Container City II have a ziggurat shape. Read Living in a box to understand more about the people who live here.

Urban Space Holdings have created a mad little urban quarter totally unlike the high-finance citadels and luxury-living elsewhere in Docklands. A sense of time and tide, lapping at the beyond, permeates the place. Let’s hope it survives yuppification, sea-level rise and the collapse of civilisation, at least until the music stops.
Herbert Wright explores: Trinity Buoy Wharf \ Le Cool London

• The Driftwood Cafe  - a cafe in a container
• Fatboys Diner - an authentic American Diner and the subject of the winning painting in this year's Sunday Times Watercolour Competition

Kathryn Maple with her prizewinning watercolour painting of Fat Boys Diner
(See review - Kathryn Maple wins Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2014)

Sue Grayson Ford - the Director of The Campaign for Drawing - will be on site to open the Electrician's Shop Gallery from noon, so sketchers can collect there, see the exhibition of drawings, paintings and textiles focused on the urban (and occasionally rural) scene, use the loos and leave any heavy items. The Gallery will remain open until 5pm.

This space is currently displaying the Recording Britain Now: 2014 John Ruskin Prize Exhibition (which opened last week) until 30th November 2014. You can also visit for free when it is open - on Wednesdays – Sundays, 12 - 5pm, and Thursdays, 4 - 8pm

How to get there

The address for travel apps and satnavs is The Electrician's Shop Gallery, Trinity Buoy Wharf,64 Orchard Place, London E14 0JY (Tel. 020 8351 1719)

The website provides advice about how to get to Trinity Buoy Wharf.

Below are links to the Transport for London Travel Planner - the page shows options from:

• Mile End
• Stratford 
• Greenwich
• Oxford Circus

Just use the Edit button and change the "From" location to make it relevant to you.

Here's a map of the location from Google Maps

Some history about Trinity Buoy Wharf

In 1515, Trinity House was granted a charter by King Henry VIII.Trinity Buoy Wharf was where Trinity House used to build and maintain the buoys and lightships which were used to aid navigation around the Kent, Essex and Suffolk coasts.  The development was created in the early nineteenth century and closed down in 1988 when it was purchased by the London Docklands Development Corporation. Urban Space Management acquired the site in 1996 and redeveloped the site to become an urban centre for the arts.

You can read more about the history on their website.

What to see and sketch on Sunday at Trinity Buoy Wharf

Sketchcrawl at Trinity Buoy Wharf on 16th November 2014

Put this date in your diary!  The next Urban Sketchers London Sketchcrawl will on Sunday 16 November (12-4pm)

Trinity Buoy Wharf is in East London on the north bank of the Thames - across from the O2

You'll be able to sketch unfamiliar vistas of the Thames, the O2, Canary Wharf and other riverside landmarks from one of the last bastions of Docklands history, Trinity Buoy Wharf!

More details later.

Sketchcrawl at Trinity Buoy Wharf on 16th November 2014

"... away above the chimney pots ..."

Mile End Road, E2

Grove Road, E2

Perhaps it is all down to Judy Garland, I mean, can any of us look at chimneys without thinking of her? I can't stand it when the stacks are capped off or the originals are replaced with an apology of  ghastly short stumps. Anyway, Mile End has quite a good outcrop and I enjoyed getting a few more in, and their shops which are fortunate enough to own them.

"... away above the chimney pots ..."

Cambridge Heath Road

Cambridge Heath Road Pencil and watercolour 149 x 210 mm

I drew this on soggy afternoon at the start of Nathan Brenville's Bethnal Green Sketchcrawl. Whilst working on this sketch, I kept in mind that intentions matter. I used to make  pencil drawings and then wonder why they appeared to lose something the moment I took a brush to them. Here, I wanted the pencil to be part of the work. This means that the lines here, have a different quality to those in a piece where the intention is a line drawing in its own right.

Cambridge Heath Road

London on the edge ... of E18

East from George Lane Viaduct

Very small watercolours of the in-between the houses and trees of George Lane, South Woodford. I wanted to take a look at the backdrop to my part of East London, giving it the same scrutiny as if painting a building close up. The ill defined becomes the centre of attention; with a touch of foreground to put it in its place.

London on the edge ... of E18

South Woodford Odeon, High Road, London E18

Shhh! its just started! Pencil and watercolour 149 x 210 mm Evelyn Rowland

This delightful piece of Odeon architecture is only a facade. Inside it has been divided into the usual 'screens';  perfectly adequate to view but woefully short on experience. 'The pictures' used to be somewhere to go;  the building was important.   Still, the outside is preserved, at least from the first floor up. 

South Woodford Odeon, High Road, London E18

Sundays are made for: canalside fun

Sundays are made for pizza and canalside fun:

 watercolour pen in moleskine, 15.06.13,  Crate Brewery on river Lee, post-Olympic London

Sundays are made for: canalside fun

2 pm, 22-09-2012, Geffrye Museum

19x19 cm, oil on panel, 2012

It rained on the day of painting at the Geffrye Museum so the garden pergola was of great help...

2 pm, 22-09-2012, Geffrye Museum

Meet the correspondents: Katherine Tyrrell

I've been sketching on a regular basis for about twenty years. I now carry a sketchbook all the time and use pen and ink and coloured pencils to record my sketches of different places in London.

Six years ago I started to post my sketches on my blogs, then in October 2008 I became a member of Urban Sketchers. I'm now very proud to now be a founder member of Urban Sketchers London.

Burlington House, Royal Academy of Arts
pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils, 11" x 16 in Moleskine sketchbook
all rights reserved Katherine Tyrrell

The best bit about sketching for me is the way it helps to remember a place so much better than any photo I could ever take.

I also sketch because it helps me to 'see' pictures everywhere I go. It also gives me a better record of colours than photos and helps me draw fast - which means I get to sketch more and more!

I love the challenge of creating composite sketches out of the people who come and go in galleries and cafés.

Fish! supper in Borough Market
pen and ink in Moleskine Sketchbook
all rights reserved Katherine Tyrrell

What I sketch

I'm primarily attracted to finding the green places in an urban environment....

Syon Vista, Kew Gardens - from the Palm House
coloured pencils, 11" x 16" in Moleskine sketchbook
all rights reserved Katherine Tyrrell

....and the views and heritage associated with the River Thames — like the view of London and the Thames from Greenwich Park in my photo - and the views of the Thames at Bankside outside Tate Modern below.

The Thames at Bankside
coloured pencils, 8" x 10" in Moleskine sketchbook
all rights reserved Katherine Tyrrell

The spine of my London sketch trail is the River Thames. My sketchbook blog - Travels with a Sketchbook - has a record of recent sketches of London in four groups:

1. the River Thames from Richmond and Kew Gardens in the west, through central London to Greenwich in the east
2. Parks, gardens and green spaces in London
3. Interiors in Central London - mainly art museums and galleries and places to eat and drink
4. Interesting buildings and architecture in London

I also enjoy sharing information about the places seen in my sketches and the practical aspects about good places to go to sketch on my blog. I'm using it to create a virtual sketch trail about different areas I've visited.

Where you can see more of my sketches

You can see more of my sketches in:

• My sketchbook blog: Travels with a Sketchbook (featured in and recommended by "The Times" newspaper 25.2.11)
• My online sketchbook on my website

I also love botanical art - and you can see one of my drawings at the 2012 Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists - at Westminster Central Hall next month - 20-29th April 2012.

You can also read more about the art galleries and museums and the exhibitions I visit (and sketch) in my main art blog: Making A Mark - which is #3 in the top 25 art blogs in the UK

Meet the correspondents: Katherine Tyrrell