In Wren's footsteps

[By James Hobbs] A big thanks to Pete Scully for his excellent sketchcrawl around St Paul's on the weekend before the Manchester Symposium. Apart from sending me to places I had never ventured before, it was an excellent place to meet people from Singapore, Hong Kong, USA, France, Germany and more who I got to know better, although too briefly, at the symposium. And there were plenty of London regulars in Manchester also – it's a great city, and I'd be back there to draw like a shot.

Here are a few images of the sketchcrawl around St Paul's.

Pete's brief history lesson on the steps of St Paul's. (It's 350 years since the Great Fire of London.)

Nick Richards in action.

Lis Watkins, Jason from Portland, Oregon, and Pete draw near Paternoster Square.

And our final meeting place at the foot of the Monument. These were two excellent sketchcrawls in amazing weather on consecutive days – Trafalgar Square and around St Paul's – thanks to Jo Dungey and Lis Watkins also for organising the Trafalgar Square day.

I've posted some images from Manchester on Instagram.

In Wren's footsteps

Trafalgar Square sketchcrawl

A lovely sunny day for the Trafalgar Square Sketchcrawl today!

The Square itself provided lots of inspiration for sketchers - this watercolour was by Sheila.

There was a busking event taking place and Jason sketched a number of the musicians.

The youngest artist on the sketchcrawl today was Trini, who at only 9 years old produced some wonderful drawings including this one of Nelson's Column.

At lunchtime, we met up under the Duke of York Column, with the steps becoming a sort of altar for the sketches of the day so far.

The lunchtime group shot with some familiar faces and lots of international visitors on their way to the Manchester symposium.

Watercolour by Michael.

Finding a little shade on a very hot day for London.

At the end of the day outside St.Martin-in-the-Fields.

Thanks to everyone for coming along, we hope you enjoyed it.  

Don't forget that there is another sketchcrawl tomorrow (Sunday 24th July), details here -  

http://urbansketchers-london.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/sketching-wrens-london-sunday-july-24.html 

Next month's sketchcrawl is in Greenwich on Saturday 20th August., meeting up at 11.00 am under the bows of the Cutty Sark.

Full details can be found on the blog on this link - 

http://urbansketchers-london.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/lets-draw-greenwich.html

Trafalgar Square sketchcrawl

The Bloom Bar

This is the prettier half of a pair of Georgian shop fronts in South Woodford High Road. The other one is a Financial Advisor's office. I see this place everyday and I always thought, "I'll do it another day." Which is the problem when something seems so accessible; there is always another chance. So, last Thursday, on my way home, I used up the last sheet of my Fabriano A5.

The Bloom Bar

London sketchcrawls on 23 and 24 July 2016

Are you passing through London on your way to the Urban Sketchers symposium in Manchester at the end of July? We are meeting up twice on the weekend before it commences, so whether you are heading to the symposium or not, come along and meet us to draw together. It's a great opportunity to meet people from the wider Urban Sketchers community who will be coming from around the globe.

Let's Draw Trafalgar Square is on Saturday 23 July, from 11am. We are meeting under the fourth plinth (which currently has Hans Haacke's horse skeleton) close to the front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. Find more details here.

Sketching Wren's London on the following day, Sunday 24 July, is hosted by Pete Scully, who is over from the US. It starts at 10.30am from the front of St Paul's Cathedral. Find more details for this one here.

You can also find more info about both of these events by scrolling down to earlier posts on this blog.

Hope to see you there – at both!

London sketchcrawls on 23 and 24 July 2016

Sketching Wren's London: Sunday July 24, 2016

Hello London sketchers! Join us for a sketchcrawl in London, through the City of Sir Christopher Wren, architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral and so many other churches and buildings in the years following the Great Fire of London, 1666. Hey, that was 350 years ago!

DATE: Sunday July 24, 2016
START: 10:30am, in front of St. Paul's Cathedral (Ludgate Hill/St. Paul's Churchyard, by the Queen Anne statue)
FINISH: 4:00pm, next to the Monument to the Great Fire (Fish St Hill, off King William St, by Monument tube)

Starting by the steps of St.Paul’s Cathedral, and finishing up at Wren’s Monument to the Great Fire, we will explore the city in groups or individually as you prefer, looking for the London built by Wren after the Great Fire.

This sketchcrawl is FREE and open to anyone of any age who likes to sketch and explore. I will provide Pete-drawn maps and some handy historical info. All you need is something to draw with and something to draw on! Large periwig and quill not necessary...

This is a reversed re-run (or “re-Wren”) of the 2014 Sketching Wren’s City event, which was a lot of fun. As a group, we managed to draw nearly all of the Wren churches in the City - let's do the rest this time around! I’ll post a reminder closer to the event itself, and you can sign up for the sketchcrawl on Facebook if you like: https://www.facebook.com/events/265601303793686/


It will be the weekend before the International Urban Sketching Symposium in Manchester. Don't forget to join London's Urban Sketchers on the day before (Saturday July 23) at the sketchcrawl around Trafalgar Square – should be lots of sketching fun!

See you on the streets of London!

-Pete Scully

Sketching Wren's London: Sunday July 24, 2016

Let's draw Trafalgar Square

Join the London Urban Sketchers for a sketchcrawl in and around the Trafalgar Square area on Saturday 23rd July.  Meet at 11.00 am under the statue on the Fourth Plinth, on the top level of the Square.  We'll meet up again at 1.00pm under the Duke of York Column, which is just off The Mall, near the ICA. Finally at 3.30pm, on the steps of St. Martin-in-the-Fields to take a look at the sketches from the day and take a group photograph.  For those who have time to stay longer, we can move on the Crypt Cafe for coffee and chat.

This is an unashamedly 'London' sketchcrawl in the heart of the city!  Lots of iconic buildings including Nelson's Column, Admiralty Arch, the National Gallery, Buckingham Palace, views of Big Ben and Whitehall.  Lots of red buses taxis and tourists too.  For those wanting something a little more tranquil, there is St. James Park, which if the weather is fine, would be great place for a picnic.

Being a central location there are plenty of cafes and places to eat.  There are toilets in the Square itself, and also in the National Gallery and Portrait Gallery, both of which have free entry.

Free event, all abilities welcome, just bring your own art materials.

For more information, visit the London Urban Sketchers blog, Facebook page or follow on Twitter @UrbSketchLondon.

11 am - Start under the statue on the Fourth Plinth

1 pm - Meet under the Duke of York Column, just off the Mall

3.30 pm - Finish on the steps of St. Martin-in-the-Fields

The Crypt Cafe, St. Martin-in-the-Fields

Let's draw Trafalgar Square

Double Decker

The Big Dance bus arrived in Croydon a couple of weeks ago for a Family Fun Day in Park Hill Park.  A wide variety of dancers took to the checkerboard stage including street dancers, belly dancers and traditional Indian dancers whilst in the community garden, volunteers helped build bug hotels using pallets, recycled wood and paper.

Double Decker