Let’s draw the Charterhouse and Clerkenwell - Saturday 17 June 2017

Charterhouse sketch by Gafung Wong

We will visit two locations: Charterhouse Square and neighbouring Clerkenwell. In Charterhouse Square is the Charterhouse, an ancient former monastery and chapel, which has very recently been partly opened to the public, with a new museum. Clerkenwell is an interesting neighbourhood, with a mix of old and new buildings and a concentration of design professions. We will visit the St John’s Gate and museum, including its beautiful Cloister Garden.

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

This location replaces the visit to the Inns of Court proposed on our original 2017 programme.

Key times and meeting points for the day:

11am: Meet at Charterhouse Square, in front of the Charterhouse museum (see photograph above) or just inside the museum if wet.

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

3.30pm: Meet outside the Cloister Garden, St John’s Square, Clerkenwell, (see photograph below) or just inside the entrance if wet, to look at drawings done, and take group photographs.

Options for drawing include:

Charterhouse Square has recently been re-landscaped and opened to the public, and provides a quiet, leafy environment to draw the surrounding historic buildings

The Charterhouse and chapel (exteriors) founded in 1371

The Charterhouse museum and chapel interior (free admission)

St John’s Gate, Clerkenwell, a Tudor gatehouse which can be drawn from either side as traffic is not allowed to pass through.

Museum of the Order of St John (free admission)

The Cloister Garden which grows many of the medicinal plants which would have been in use at the priory.

Street scenes, shops, and cafes in Clerkenwell.

Background

The Charterhouse was founded in 1371 as a monastery for the Carthusian order. In the early seventeenth century it became the home of a charitable foundation, providing a school (now in Surrey) and a home for poor elderly men. It still provides sheltered housing for forty elderly ‘brothers’ (although they are not monks) in part of the building. A new museum has been developed in part of this historic building, and earlier this year the museum, chapel and part of the building were opened to the public for the first time. http://www.thecharterhouse.org/

Neighbouring Clerkenwell provides a mix of old and new. It is a short walk from Charterhouse Square to St John’s Gate, on St John’s Lane. This Tudor gatehouse houses the Museum of the Order of St John, showing something of the area’s history. This gatehouse and the remaining parts of the twelfth century church on the other side of Clerkenwell Road, are remnants of the Priory of the Knights of St John, which is the precursor of the St John’s Ambulance. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the offices of the Master of the Revels were located in these buildings and Shakespeare visited to license many of his plays.

http://museumstjohn.org.uk/

Clerkenwell has a complex history, and now has many fashionable shops, craft galleries, bars and restaurants, with interesting side streets and pedestrianised areas. The area has a concentration of design-focussed businesses.

Practical information

The nearest underground station is Barbican. Leaving the station, you are on Aldersgate Street. Turn left and soon turn left again, on to Carthusian Street, and you will see the trees of Charterhouse Square ahead of you. Once in Charterhouse Square, walk round the Square to the right and you will see the Charterhouse and museum. Thackeray’s Café is the museum café, and there are other cafes and shops near the underground station and in Clerkenwell.

In the afternoon, from Charterhouse Square, walk down Charterhouse Street to the back of Smithfield Market, turn right up St John Street, and fork left up St John’s Lane. You will see St John’s Gate ahead of you. The Cloister Garden is further up St John’s Lane, on the other side of Clerkenwell Road, in St John’s Square.

If wet, we can draw inside the Charterhouse Museum and chapel, and at the Museum of the Order of St John in Clerkenwell. There are toilets in both the museums.

The day is run by Jo Dungey and Gafung Wong

Let’s draw the Charterhouse and Clerkenwell - Saturday 17 June 2017

We drew Alexandra Palace 29 April 2017

[By Elizabeth Blunt in London] Despite the rather ho-hum weather, there was a good turnout for our trip to Alexandra Palace on April 29th, and sketchers found plenty to keep them busy in the eccentric charms of north London's People's Palace.

There was, of course, that view; Jo reckoned we could see every place where we had ever sketched. Helen Pavli caught it in moody monochrone.

The prize for close observation went to Philip Stones, who captured the radio waves radiating from the old BBC mast – 'The Archers', I think, or possibly 'From our own Correspondent'.

Meanwhile some participants, fresh from a 'Space Oddity' workshop in Barcelona, had fun trying out their perspective-warping skills on the Palace's imposing facade. (This was Elwyn Edwards' version.)

Ally Pally, of course has plenty of oddities of its own, from the Lohengrin-style swan boats on the lake to the pyramids, sphinxes and tropical greenery in the Palm Court. (Thank you Zane Karklina and Andy Lee.)

The day ended in the Phoenix Bar, so called because Ally Pally has twice burned down, and twice risen again from the ashes. (Seen here by Cal Hoy)

We drew Alexandra Palace 29 April 2017

Let's Draw Sloane Square on Saturday 20 May 2017

Sketch by Evelyn Rowland

This month we meet in Chelsea, focused on Sloane Square. This area is brilliant for elegant period properties. There’s a specially arranged chance to draw inside Holy Trinity Church on Sloane Street. Other cool areas - Eaton Square, King’s Road, of course and Duke of York’s Square, where Saatchi reigns supreme.

The day is free of charge, no need to book, just turn up with your art kit.  *Please use only dry media  inside Holy Trinity church.

Venus Fountain in Sloane Square

Key times and meeting points for the day:

11.00.am Meet by the Venus Fountain in the middle of Sloane Square.

1.00pm for lunchtime photocall by the Venus Fountain again (or if wet, in Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Street).

3.30pm also by the Venus Fountain (or if wet, at Pret A Manger, 35 King’s Road).

We will then meet for post sketch coffee and chat in Pret’s, at 35 King’s Road.

Sloane Square

There are lots of sketching opportunities in this area:

Sloane Square was laid out in the late eighteenth century, and has a fountain and flower stall in the centre. Surrounding buildings include the Royal Court Theatre. The area has lots of elegant period properties.

Holy Trinity Church
Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AHoly_Trinity_Sloane_Street_Church_Exterior_-_Diliff.jpg

Nicky Browne has booked us a slot in the amazing Arts & Crafts Holy Trinity church in Sloane Street, from 11.00am to 3.00pm for anyone who wants to draw in there. The church’s architect was John Dando Sedding, and the interior includes stained glass by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris.

Kings Road is one of London’s most fashionable shopping streets.

Duke of York’s Square is a modern pedestrian development with café tables and fashionable shops, and sometimes a farmers’ market

The Saatchi Gallery, Charles Saatchi’s gallery staging contemporary exhibitions is in the Duke of York’s HQ on Duke of York’s Square, open from 10am to 6pm, with free admission. http://www.saatchigallery.com/

Nearby Eaton Square is one of the most prestigious addresses in London, and includes St Peter’s church, completed in 1827, designed by Henry Hakewill in the classical style.

Practical information:

The nearest underground station is Sloane Square, one stop from Victoria on the District and Circle lines.

Eating options are many and include: Peter Jones 6th floor café right on the Square, Pret a Manger 35-37 King’s Road, Comptoir Libanais on Duke of York’s Square. The Royal Court Theatre, and Saatchi Gallery also have cafes. There are plenty of loos in Peter Jones.

There’s a rather nice art shop, Green and Stone, at 259 King’s Road.



This day is run by Evelyn Rowland and Nicky Browne. The drawings of the Venus Fountain and St Peter’s church, Eaton Square, are by Evelyn Rowland.

Sketch by Evelyn Rowland

Let's Draw Sloane Square on Saturday 20 May 2017

Simpson's-in-the-Strand

[By John Webb.] I had heard that Simpson's-in-the-Strand, the iconic wood-panelled London eatery with its stunning ceiling is closing.  But only for complete refurbishment. No one could say what will be done design wise but that it will be very different. A challenge for we Urban Sketchers who like to record reality which includes change. Simpson's kindly let me in towards the end of the luncheon sitting.

Started in 1828 simply as a smoking room, it became in the 1850s a restaurant then also the most important place in Britain for chess. P. G. Woodhouse called it ‘a restful temple of food’ and being able to sit in a corner for  two hours and observe lingering diners – some who came for a look and chat – confirmed that.

Simpson's-in-the-Strand

Along New River Walk, Islington

[By James Hobbs.] I've gone back to university recently and my new cycle route down to Clerkenwell takes me across the New River Walk, which just happens to pass across the road where I live further north. It's a long, thin, quiet park with water, ducks and a winding path, and people chatting on their way home through the sunshine. It's the kind of place that is so easily overlooked even if you live in London, let alone if you only come as a tourist for a short time and you get dragged as if magnetically towards the big tourist sites.

My dissertation, which I'll be working on over the summer, will (since you ask) be on sketchbooks in galleries, libraries, archives and museums, and how accessible they are. Let me know if you're a regular visitor of sketchbook collections.

There's more of my work on Flickr.

Along New River Walk, Islington

Battle Bridge Place, King's Cross

Battle Bridge Place, King's Cross

[By John Webb.] I have been making irregular 'taxi' trips to the space between St Pancras - now International - and King's Cross Stations for ten years or more.  It has been fascinating while waiting to enjoy/draw the urban redevelopment.  Some successful some less so.  New alongside refurbished original has been very well done - the modern high rise offices although variegated less so.  There are now good spaces for people, some on roofs, but the structures dominate them.  Good use of street furniture and sub-divided spaces does go some way to humanise the 'square'.

Battle Bridge Place, King's Cross

Surbiton Station

It was a lovely bright day last Sunday so I decided to walk from Thames Ditton to Surbiton Station to start my journey back to Norwich. I had just spent the weekend visiting my mum to celebrate Mother’s day. This gave me the opportunity to sketch the stark white modernist railway station I had admired for so many years. I had about an hour before I needed to catch my train. I spotted a table outside a pub near the station with a perfect view for sketching.

Surbiton is situated in a southwest suburb of London along the Thames River.  The station is the work of the Southern Railway’s architect James Robb Scott and was renovated in the early 30’s, opening its doors again in 1937. It is constructed of reinforced concrete. In 1998 the station had a refurbishment and it is now a grade II- listed building. It was great to observe the art deco style of curved forms, the long horizontal and vertical lines, which were iconic of that period, along with the beauty and simplicity of the san serif typeface used in the signage. 

Surbiton’s claim to fame, is that it is the station that Professor Dumbledore whisks Harry Potter away from in Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince, filmed in late 2007. Not sure my proportions are quite accurate but I managed to capture the essence of it. 

Surbiton Station