Let’s draw the Horniman Museum and Gardens - Saturday 25 March 2017

Horniman Museum
Nick Richards

Join us at the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill, South London, which has a wealth of subjects for sketching: the impressive and varied buildings, the museum’s eclectic collections, and all set in 16 acres of gardens.

Key meeting points for the day:
11am: meet inside the main building entrance, near the Navajo sandpainting.
1 pm: meet to share sketchbooks and experiences outside in front of the Conservatory (or if weather is bad, inside the main museum building at the lower ground floor level Gallery Square).
3.30 pm: finish in the same location outside the Conservatory to share sketchbooks and take group photos (inside in Gallery Square if weather is bad).

Horniman Museum
Nick Richards

The Horniman Museum was established by Frederick Horniman, a wealthy Victorian tea trader, traveller and collector. The main building, which was opened to the public in 1901, is an Arts and Crafts Movement building by architect Charles Harrison Townsend, who also designed the Whitechapel Gallery and the Bishopsgate Institute.
The Museum has free admission, although there is a charge for the aquarium (£4 for adults) and some temporary exhibitions. The museum is open from 10.30am to 5.30pm, although the café opens at 9.30 am.

The Walrus
Nick Richards

The Horniman offers lots to draw, both indoors and outside:
* As well as the historic main building with it’s modern extension, there is a modern eco building housing the library, and an ornate conservatory
* The museum’s collections include musical instruments from all over the world, a big natural history collection, and an aquarium
* There are 16 acres of gardens, including a formal sunken garden, a bandstand, unusual trees, and a sundial collection
* There are panoramic views over London from the gardens
* An animal walk (open 12.30 to 4pm) has alpacas, goats, sheep, guinea pigs, rabbits and chickens
* The Horniman hosts a farmers’ market on Saturday mornings, near the bandstand.

Tuba
Nick Richards

Practicalities

The museum has a café which can get quite crowded. There are other cafes and food shops in the area between the museum and Forest Hill station. It has a shop, a cloakroom and toilets.
Inside the museum there are the usual restrictions on using wet media such as watercolour. They don’t have stools to borrow, so you may want to bring one.

How to get there: the nearest station is Forest Hill, which is on the Overground, and on national rail lines from London Victoria and London Bridge. Further information is available on the Horniman website: http://www.horniman.ac.uk/

This day is run by Nick Richards with Jo Dungey

Let’s draw the Horniman Museum and Gardens - Saturday 25 March 2017

Spiders

When Tate Modern opened in 2000, the first artist to display work in the gallery’s vast Turbine Hall was Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010). Work on show included Maman (1999), the largest of her spider sculptures.

The spider has become one of Louise Bourgeois’ most well-known themes. Her parents ran a workshop for tapestry restoration. The title Maman alludes to the strength of her mother, with metaphors of spinning, weaving, nurture and protection.

Urban Sketchers London returned to Tate Modern for our sketchcrawl on Saturday 21 January 2017. Here are some of us in the Turbine Hall, looking at the sketches done that afternoon.

Photo: James Hobbs

Although the largest spider sculpture Tate owns, Maman, is not currently on display, the new Tate Switchhouse has an Artist’s Room devoted to Louise Bourgeois. This includes two other spider sculptures on display, which some of us drew:

Lis Watkins
'Spider' 

Jo Dungey
Spider 1 (1994)

Marie Desy-Field
Spider 1995

Spiders

Covent Garden

[By John Webb.] I missed the Sketch Crawl before Christmas in Covent Garden however we went to the Ballet a couple of days earlier and fortunately in sufficient time to pop a sketch into the book.  Really need a bigger page and smaller paint box.  The Royal Opera House is going through another makeover - which is good; can't stand still - in fact there have been 3 theatres there since 1732.  The first 2 burnt down, a common hazard in the days of candles and gaslight. The current one dates from 1858 with the most recent 1996/99 major additions making it a fantastic experience...the auditorium retaining its historic wow factor.

Covent Garden

Let’s draw the Barbican - Saturday 25 February 2017

Join us to draw at the Barbican in the City of London. The Barbican Centre is one of London’s major arts centres and the Barbican Estate is a landmark modern housing development by architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon.

Everyone welcome, bring your own drawing materials, just turn up on the day, which is free of charge.

Silk Street Entrance

Timetable for the day

11 am: Meet inside the main entrance of the Barbican Centre, on Silk Street, for an introduction and short discussion about area's attractions and good drawing spots, lead by Olga Mackness.

Barbican Centre Lakeside Terrace

1.00 pm: midway meeting by the main water feature in the Barbican estate Lakeside Court or if wet, inside in the Barbican Kitchen cafe situated at the same place, opposite the water feature (Level G).

Barbican Centre Lakeside Terrace Entrance

Finish at 3.30 pm at the Barbican Centre Lakeside Terrace Entrance for the group picture and discussion.

Afterwards we will go to the nearby pub The Jugged Hare, 49 Chiswell Street, a stylish gastropub with an English menu. This pub forms part of the famous old Grade II listed Whitbread Brewery (now the Montcalm 5 Star London City Hotel). http://www.thejuggedhare.com/contact/

Drawing opportunities are endless in the area:

Barbican Centre: the arts centre offers views of the surrounding area and interesting modern interiors. There are also opportunities to draw people and activities in the Centre, and there will be a new temporary light installation by Omer Arbel in the Foyer, level G.

Barbican Estate has many public courts at different levels – exciting opportunities to draw panoramic scenery. Architecture of the complex is fascinating and very distinct. It is a very good chance to enrich your portfolio with sketches of classic modern architecture. There is an exhibition about the architecture of the Barbican in the Barbican Centre Foyer, level G.

St -Giles -without -Cripplegate Church: located within the Barbican complex, on Fore Street. This medieval church survived the Great Fire of London in 1666. Oliver Cromwell was married in this church and John Milton is buried there. There are many marble portraits in the church – of John Milton and other famous people associated with the church. Interesting information is to be discovered there and interiors are great for sketching.

The Museum of London is located at the south-west corner of the Barbican Estate, at the junction of London Wall and Aldersgate Street, above street level. It has free admission.

Nearby, there are remains of the Old London Wall dating from the Roman era, near the south west corner of the Barbican Estate.

Practicalities

The day offers opportunities to draw indoors and out, depending on the weather and your preferences.

There are many cafes and bars inside the Barbican Centre and surrounding area, suitable for all budgets and tastes.

How to get there: Situated in the City of London, the nearest tube stations are Barbican or Moorgate. Further information on the Barbican Centre website:
https://www.barbican.org.uk/

We look forward to this day sketching together in London.

Day organisers – Olga Mackness and Lis Watkins.
Top drawing by James Hobbs.

Let’s draw the Barbican - Saturday 25 February 2017

Behind Harrods

[By James Hobbs.] Cycling in the west of London, I passed by the Ecuadorian embassy, which, with the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange still inside more than four years after claiming asylum there, is still in the news. Obama's decision to release the whistleblower Chelsea Manning has heightened speculation Assange will finally make an exit. The embassy, which shares a building with the Colombian embassy, is slap-bang behind Harrods, and watched by bored-looking press photographers from across the street. There was the hope that he would emerge as I drew the scene, but he will want, no doubt, more of a show and a larger audience when that time comes.

Behind Harrods

A farewell to dippy

 

[by Pete Scully] Dippy, the beloved Diplodocus at the Natural History Museum, is moving! This week, on the 4th of January, ol' Dippy will be packed up into lots of boxes and sent on tour around the country, while the Hintze Hall, the grand space in the Museum that has been Dippy's home since I was a little kid (1979, though Dippy's been in the Museum for more than a century), is prepared for the installation of a large Blue Whale skeleton. I'm sad to see Dippy go, but excited to see a new change in my favourite of museums. I visited London over Thanksgiving break in November. Yes, you don't have Thanksgiving in the UK, but my Californian son was off school that week and flights were cheap so we took advantage, and came back to our London family. Britain still seems to have Black Friday though, but if you're not queuing up outside Best Buy at 4am and spending the rest of the morning in Target then you're not really doing it right. It was a good week to visit London, with the UK kids still in school and Christmas starting to really get into gear - South Kensington is lovely in wintertime, with the ice skaters outside the Natural History Museum. My son loves geology so we spent the longest time looking at all the rocks and minerals on display, before finding a seat to sketch Dippy. We couldn't see him all, so only sketched his body, and being a little pushed for time I never managed my two-page Diplodocus spread this time. But I am glad I got to see hime one last time before he goes plodding around the country, to Dorset and Newcastle and so on (see details of Dippy's tour on the NHM wesbite). Here is my son's sketch of Dippy, in his new NHM sketchbook.

 

by Pete Scully

A farewell to dippy

Let's draw in and around Tate Modern - 21 January 2017

View of Switch House by Isabel Carmona

In January 2017 we are meeting to draw in and around Tate Modern, an area with spectacular views of the Thames riverside (we will be opposite St Paul’s and the City of London). The new extension to Tate Modern – the Switch House - is also spectacular and from the top we can enjoy one of London’s best panoramic views. 

Date : Saturday 21st January 2017

Timetable for the day:

• Start meeting 11 am: Meet at the riverside, below the Tate Modern chimney. In wet conditions we will be just beside the chimney by the riverside entrance to the Tate (to the left of the chimney as you look towards the building).

• Halfway meeting 1 pm: Meet on the opposite side of Tate Modern, in the new circular terrace just outside the entrance to the new extension, between the Switch House entrance and the Terrace entrance.  If it is wet, we will be just inside the Terrace entrance.  See map of level 1 (http://www.tate.org.uk/download/file/fid/105226) 

• Finish meeting point, 3:30 pm: Meet inside, in the middle of the Turbine Hall, level 0,at the bottom of the ramp coming down from the Turbine Hall entrance.

• Afterwards - meeting point to continue discussions and drinks (and to draw some more if you wish), from around 4pm: Meet at the bar of the Citizen M Hotel in Lavington Street, almost Southwark Street. 

Tate Modern is free of charge (other than for special exhibitions) and there are extensive collection displays in both the Boiler House and the new Switch House extension.  See all you can do here: http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern

Drawing possibilities are inexhaustible around here, amongst others you could draw:

• the riverside with views of the St Paul’s embankment, the Millennium Bridge, 

• Tate Modern, outside or inside including the Turbine Hall and the new Switch House interior architecture,

• one of the best views in London from level 10 of the Switch House,

• the new terrace and mini park by the Terrace entrance

• People inside, outside the museum and around the cafes, the riverside, everywhere.

Please note the Gallery Rules: http://www.tate.org.uk/about/who-we-are/policies-and-procedures/gallery-rules  which state: ‘The use of charcoal, pastels, permanent marker, and watercolour or oil paint is not allowed in the galleries'.  We have sought clarification and this includes all areas of the building. 

View of St Paul's from Tate Modern by Isabel Carmona

How to get here: There is a map and information about transport and facilities on the Tate website: http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern#visit

There are plenty of cafes and sandwich bars for various budgets either inside Tate Modern or around Sumner Street, Convey Street or Southwark Street. The only pub in the area, the Founders Arms serves food but it is normally very busy.

In any case, there is so much to do and see around here and so little time, that you'll be itching to keep on drawing! 

We look forward to this day sketching together in London

Day organisers: Isabel Carmona and Dionisa Joseph Mattam.

Let's draw in and around Tate Modern - 21 January 2017