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

Urban Sketchers London exhibition at Timberyard Old Street

Hanging the show at Timberyard

Six of London's Urban Sketchers – Thomas Corrie, James Hobbs, Isabelle Laliberté, Jhih-Ren Shih, Katherine Tyrrell and Zhenia Vasiliev – are showing drawings at Timberyard cafe, Old Street, London, following on from a recent exhibition at its Covent Garden branch. 

The Old Street cafe, which is a popular destination for freelance/wifi/e-workers, and close to the cluster of tech companies around the Old Street roundabout, will host the exhibition until 30 June 2014. Details of the private view and sketchcrawl are coming soon.

Visit our Flickr site for a short video of the exhibition.

Timberyard, 61-67 Old Street, London EC1V 9HW

29 March-30 June 2014

Open Monday to Friday 8am-8pm, weekends 10am-6pm

@timberyarduk, @urbsketchlondon 

Exhibiting artists Jhin-Ren Shih, Isabelle Laliberté and Thomas Corrie

Urban Sketchers London exhibition at Timberyard Old Street

The Shenkman Bar at the RA

I was invited to a Bloggers' Evening Preview of "Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined" at the Royal Academy of Arts on Thursday.

After visiting the Kurt Jackson exhibition (closes 1 February) at The Redfern Gallery and Messums, I made my way past the gallery desert which now fills the eastern side of Cork Street (see this week's Guardian article - Galleries are forced out of their historic London home) and through the Burlington Arcade to the RA.

I filled the gap between the gallery closing and the bloggers preview starting with a cup of tea in the new Shenkman Bar in the basement of the former Keepers House.

At last - a comfy seat to sit down on and have a cup of tea - and a sketch - have returned to the RA!

I much preferred the black leather sofas in the former Friends Room but the banquettes are infinitely preferable to the hard seats in the current Friends Room. Lots of opportunities too for people sketching.

The Shenkman Bar at the RA
pen and sepia ink in Moleskine Sketchbook
© Katherine Tyrrell

It's worth taking a sketchbook to the "Sensing Spaces" exhibition.  It's quite unlike anything else I've ever seen at the RA. Ostensibly about architecture it nonetheless seems to be about very large sculptural installations.  See images on my blog post on Making A Mark which follows later today.

The Shenkman Bar at the RA

St Paul's Cathedral from Tate Modern

The City of London, St Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge
from the Members Room, Tate Modern
11.5" x 16", pen and ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

The Members' Room at Tate Modern is on the sixth floor and provides stunning views of the City of London and the River Thames

You can see what I mean via this virtual tour of the Members Room At Tate Modern - complete view views

This sketch was done sat at one of the tables next to the windows looking out at the view. In the background is the dome and structure of St Paul's Cathedral. In the foreground is the City of London School and the Millennium Bridge.

One of the other attractive features of sketching from a position which is so high up is that you also get a brilliant perspective on some great clouds.

St Paul's Cathedral from Tate Modern

Urban Sketchers London exhibition opens at Foyles

Page spreads from the Art of Urban Sketching and urban sketches by Katherine Tyrrell

Urban Sketches by Barry Jackson, Zhenia Vasiliev, Nathan Brenville and James Hobbs

Urban Sketchers London's first exhibition has opened at The Gallery at Foyles, Third Floor, 113-119 Charing Cross Road.  Page spreads from The Art of Urban Sketching also feature on the walls of the Gallery and the exhibition is called The Art of Urban Sketching.

This week, for those of you are unable to visit we'll be giving you a virtual preview of the exhibition.

Below is an extract from the catalogue for the exhibition.  Every day this week we'll also be featuring the correspondents and their artwork in the exhibition.

You can, of course, only get a really good look if you come to the exhibition!  Plus Foyles also have a very good section about Art on the second floor of the bookshop!

The Art of Urban Sketching

You might have seen them at the coffee shop, on the tube or in the park.  Pen and paper in hand, or maybe wielding a waterbrush and small palette, they are sketching – drawing and painting the world around them; documenting both the magical and the mundane aspects of the city.

Their open sketchbooks show lively streetscapes, soaring architecture, green spaces and intriguing faces – all quickly rendered on the spot – sometimes furtively, sometimes in front of a gathering crowd.

In watercolour, ink, graphite or coloured pencils, urban sketchers draw scenes from their daily lives in cities around the world.

Urban Sketchers began as a Flickr group in 2007 and has since grown to become a website showcasing contributions from correspondents across the globe. A network of regional and countrywide groups of urban sketchers local to an area has also developed – and Urban Sketchers London is one of these.

Our mission is to "Show the World, One Drawing at a Time".

The Art of Urban Sketching – now available to purchase in Foyles – is the first collection of images, advice and inspiration from this growing community.

The book is already on its third reprint.  The first and second print runs sold out within the first three months following publication in the USA earlier this year and has been eagerly snapped up by sketching fans around the world.

Website / Blog: http://www.urbansketchers.org

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/urbansketches/

Urban Sketchers London

Urban Sketchers in London share their drawings of London on our blog (see below). London-based artists and correspondents for Urban Sketchers London who are displaying sketches in this exhibition are:

Nathan Brenville	Ohla Pryymak
James Hobbs	Katherine Tyrrell
Barry Jackson	Zhenia Vasiliev

Blog: http://urbansketcherslondon.blogspot.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/UrbSketchLondon

Contact: urbansketcherslondon@gmail.com

OUR MANIFESTO

• We draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation.
• Our drawings tell the story of our surroundings, the places we live and where we travel.
• Our drawings are a record of time and place.
• We are truthful to the scenes we witness.
• We use any kind of media and cherish our individual styles.
• We support each other and draw together.
• We share our drawings online.
• We show the world, one drawing at a time.

Urban Sketchers London exhibition opens at Foyles

London's Urban Sketchers exhibit at Foyles bookshop

James Hobbs, Foyles, Charing Cross Road

Have you bought a copy of The Art of Urban Sketching by Gabriel Campanario yet?

Urban Sketchers London are delighted to be publicising this very popular book and exhibiting their work by participating in Foyles Bookshop's Sketching the City summer season of exhibitions about sketching.

Works by London-based urban sketchers that are included in The Art of Urban Sketching will be on display at the third-floor gallery in Foyles flagship bookshop at 113-119 Charing Cross Road, London from next Monday.

The show also includes:

• excerpts and drawings reproduced from the book by other urban sketchers from around the world
• plus other framed works by London-based Nathan Brenville, James Hobbs, Barry Jackson, Olha Pryymak, Katherine Tyrrell and Zhenia Vasiliev. 

The Art of Urban Sketching Exhibition is for one week from Monday 16 July to Sunday 22 July 2012. For more details about the gallery's opening hours and how to get to Foyles, check its website.

The book is on sale in the shop and at the exhibition.

Follow London's Urban Sketchers on Twitter: @urbsketchlondon

Further details about the events in Foyles Sketching in the City season, which continues until 26 August.

London's Urban Sketchers exhibit at Foyles bookshop

Launch of the Art of Urban Sketching in London

London Urban Sketchers showed their sketchbooks and talked about their favourite materials and methods at Cass Art, Islington on Saturday 19 May. They were busy all afternoon, and the book got an excellent response from shoppers!

Zhenia Vasiliev talks about urban sketching

Adebanji Alade demonstrates his approach to drawing faces

KatherineTyrrell demonstrates coloured pencil technique

James Hobbs talks about  sketching

Launch of the Art of Urban Sketching in London

The Art of Urban Sketching book launch

The Art of Urban Sketching, by Urban Sketchers founder Gabriel Campanario, has its London launch on Saturday 19th May at Cass Art's flagship art materials store in Islington N1.

Six of the London-based Urban Sketchers with work in the book – Adebanji Alade, James Hobbs, Barry Jackson, Olha Pryymak, Katherine Tyrrell and Zhenia Vasiliev – will be present on Saturday 19 May between 12.30pm and 5.30pm, with some of their sketchbooks and drawing materials, and ready to answer questions.

Bonus!  The Art of Urban Sketching will be on sale at a special discounted price of just £12.95 for one day only.  Here's what the Cass art Facebook page says

Get the incredible new book 'The Art of Urban Sketching' for only £12.95 at our launch event in Islington tomorrow! Usually £17.99 this offer is valid for tomorrow only. Drop in to meet the artists featured in the book and get tips and advice on drawing on the go.

Don't know much about Urban Sketching? Look here.

Wondering how to get to Cass Art?

Here's a link to Cass Art Islington, 66-67 Colebrooke Row, London N1 8AB Click the link for a map of where this flagship art store is located.

• Nearest Tube station: Highbury Islington
• Nearest Train Station: Essex Road (North London Line)
• Buses: Put "Colebrooke Row Borough of Islington, N1" into the TfL bus maps and it will identify all the buses that run near to Cass Arts. The click the number of the bus to see the route and the bus stops.

These are the links to:

• the Transport for London map of the Planned weekend Tube closures for the weekend 19/20 May 2012. This is the link to the Transport for London pdf file which shows the service disruptions this weekend.
• Use the Journey Planner on the TfL website to work out the best route to the store on Saturday afternoon.

We look forward to meeting you there.

The Art of Urban Sketching book launch

Sketching period gardens at the Geffreye Museum

Geffreye Museum Gardens - April 2012
20th Century Period Garden (Edwardian 1900 -1914) in foreground
pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils on Arches HP, 9" x 12"
copyright Katherine Tyrrell - all rights reserved

The Geffreye Museum is a museum of the home and garden between 1600 and the present day in Hoxton.  There are a set of period gardens to match the period rooms.

What I like best about Spring is the very fresh crisp vibrant leaf colours on the trees which tend to dull down as the months progress. 


This is the view - on a showery day - of the 20th century - Edwardian Garden (1900-1914) via the windows of the extremely nice cafe.  I wasn't too successful in getting the subtle and very pale purple colours of the wisteria over the pergola (bottom right).  The dark elongated pyramid structure in the middle is a Pelargonium Pyramid in the Mid-Late Victorian Garden (1860-1890)


See The gardens at the Geffreye Museum on my sketchbook blog for more about my visit and the museumand its gardens

Sketching period gardens at the Geffreye Museum

Sketching people - on the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral

One of the things I like to do is to find places in London where it's easy to practice life drawing ie sketching people - without having to pay the life models!  It's also a great way of getting people doing things naturally rather than those funny poses that life models like to strike at times!

The best way that I've found of finding people to draw is to sit somewhere that people tend to congregate and wait a while.  There's quite a few of those in London.

Sketching people on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral
11" x 8", pen and sepia ink in Moleskine sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell - all rights reserved

One of the best places to find people sitting and taking a "time out" is on the steps in front of St Paul's Cathedral.  Here's my sketch of people sat on the steps and done while I was sat at the top of the steps waiting for fellow Urban Sketcher Liz Steel (Liz and Borromini - from Sydney Australia).

Did I tell you how Urban Sketchers is also a great way to meet other sketchers from all over the world?

[Sketch first published in Sketching people on steps of St Pauls Cathedral in Travels with my Sketchbook] 

Sketching people - on the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral

Cherry blossom in West Smithfield

Cherry blossom in West Smithfield
(garden to the left and Smithfield market in background)
11.5" x 17", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell - all rights reserved

I've just returned to London and seeing all the cherry blossom everywhere reminds me very much of a pleasant hour or so sat sketching this sunny scene in West Smithfield in April two years ago.

You can thank the Japanese Ukiyo-e artists Hokusai and Hiroshige for reminding me of the strength of designs in their pictures of cherry trees and that you can have a tree trunk which is barely in the picture plane!

My blog post then The Courtauld, Old Bank of England and West Smithfield tells you about the very considerable history behind this place and its connections with both Wat Tayler and William Wallace.

Cherry blossom in West Smithfield

The River Thames at Kew in March

Earlier this month - in the first spell of good weather - we went down to Kew Gardens twice in one week.  We also left the gardens via the Brentford Gate and walked on the towpath next to the River Thames wile the tide was out.

I sketched this view sat nearly opposite Syon House.  I started it on the Monday and finished it on the Thursday.  It has the soft hazy colours of a warm day which started with fog!

The Thames at Kew - looking towards Richmond 12 and 15 March 2012
pen and ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine sketchbook, 11" x 16"
© Katherine Tyrrell - all rights reserved

You can read more about the place and my visit here on my sketchbook blog - The Thames at Kew - in March sunshine

The River Thames at Kew in March

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