Sketching at the Wallace Collection

Wallace Collection - Judy and the horses (27.11.09)
11.5" x 17", pen and sepia ink in Daler Rowney Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

I visited the Wallace Collection in Hertford House in Manchester Square on Friday morning with one of my drawing groups. I'd never been before (one of my "to do" list items which seemed to get done!) and was so impressed that I returned for more sketching and more looks at the collection in the afternoon.

It's worth noting though that the paintings in the collection are mostly viewed in the context of furniture and other artifacts of the period and that all the paintings, furniture, sculpture, glass and decorative artwork look extremely good suggesting that the conservation practiced by the Musuem is of a very high quality.

The Wallace Collection has over 5,500 works in the fine and decorative arts. Its aims is to

To preserve the Collection and Hertford House for future generations to enjoy in accordance with the bequest of Lady Wallace, retaining the essential character of a family house; to maintain and develop the quality of scholarship and practical skills of the curatorial, conservation, education and library/archival staff; through the content and the quality of the Collection and by nurturing our expertise, to continue as a centre of excellence, at home and internationally, in Eighteenth Century fine and decorative arts and Nineteenth Century collecting.

You can read more about the Collection in Review: The Wallace Collection on Making A Mark

The Wallace Restaurant
10" x 8", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

I did three sketches. My first sketch was of a corner of The Wallace Restaurant - which has plaster pink walls, an Atrium Roof and potted trees.

It's interesting how many museums and art collections now release space in the main building by creating a glass roof for their central courtyards.

This particular courtyard now houses yet another one of Oliver Peyton’s café and brasseries - as seen in the National Dining Rooms and the National Cafe at the National Gallery - which have, as regular readers will know, also been the subject of my sketches (see Interiors on my portfolio 'pastels and pencils' website).

I also tried my hand at yet another Rembrandt Self-portrait - this time one from the year 1637.

For some unaccountable reason actor Martin Freeman (from The Office and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) appears to be descended from Rembrandt.

After Self-Portrait in a Black Cap (1637) by Rembrandt
8" x 5", pencil in Moleskine sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

My third sketch was the one you can see at the top - of another member of my group sketching the very impressive models of soldiers and their horses. Apparently the one with his arm raised is an example of 15th century 'Gothic' equestrian armour from South Germany.

I started a fourth which I really need to try and finish if I can. Mind you it is of the whole of one end of the Great Gallery which is a hugely impressive room so that might take a little time!

Links:

• Wallace Collection:
• address: Hertford House, Manchester Square, London W1U 3BN
• telephone: +44 (0)207 563 9500
• website / site plan
• Portfolio website - Sketches of Interiors
  

Le Mont St Michel

My sister wanted to visit Mont St Michel having visited it once before on a school trip. I'd always wanted to visit but had a niggle that I was going to like it more from a distance than close up. It seemed to me that there was every likelihood that it would have been taken over by tourism.

Mont-Saint-Michel 3rd October 2009
11" x 17", pencil and coloured pencils in Daler Rowney Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

I was right - although not as bad as it could have been - probably due to the fact that it's a World Heritage Site. However the combination of souvenir shops and coachloads of tourists made it somewhere I didn't want to be. It gets 3 million visitors a year.

I didn't climb to the top to the Romanesque Abbey (which has wonderful pointy bits), as my right ankle was making loud and painful protests at the time. I ducked into the little church on the way up - which offered a little bit of peace and quiet. Then I went up further but headed for one of the look-out areas. At which point I became completely entranced with the sand and the estuary. You can see photographs taken from the viewpoints on my Flickr site - Mont St. Michel set on Flickr. I watched a group of people who were right out on the sandbanks of the estuary.

I then decided to come back down via the footpath along the peripheral walls - which made the experience a whole lot more satisfactory as this walk for some reason was almost deserted!

We visited three times - on Friday afternoon (which was when I stayed longest), Friday evening when we came back to see it lit up - a very spectacular sight from a distance and then again on Saturday morning.

On that occasion I stayed down in the car park, got into the back seat, opened the door and got out my sketchbook to sketch. The result is the sketch at the top.

You can see more of my drawings since I got back on my Making A Mark blog post today - From sketchbook to studio - which comments on the thinking and drawing process when I get back home.

I've yet to produce a more finished drawing that I'm happy with!

About Mont-Saint-Michel

Perched on a rocky islet in the midst of vast sandbanks exposed to powerful tides between Normandy and Brittany stand the 'Wonder of the West', a Gothic-style Benedictine abbey dedicated to the archangel St Michael, and the village that grew up in the shadow of its great walls. Built between the 11th and 16th centuries, the abbey is a technical and artistic tour de force, having had to adapt to the problems posed by this unique natural site.
UNESCO World Heritage Site

Plan Mont Saint Michel
Source: WikiTravel

You can see a gallery photos of Mont Saint Michel on the UNESCO World Heritage website and yet more on the Monet Saint Michel page on the "Our Place" Collection of Photographs of World Heritage Sites.

There are also more links below which tell you more about the site below.

Links:

• Mont-Saint-Michel - official website
  
• France - National Monuments - Abbaye du Mont-Saint-Michel
• UNESCO - World Heritage Site - Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay and its Bay
• Our Place - Mont-Saint-Michel page
  
• Wikipedia - Mont St Michel
• Wikitravel - Mont St Michel
• Official Mont St Michel website.

Petit déjeuner at the Château de Boucéel

Petit déjeuner at the Château de Boucéel
8" x 10", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Actually staying in a Château on our French holiday was a treat! The Châteaux are all so very different and Château de Boucéel, the one we stayed in near Mont St Michel, looked like a very grand house. You can see some photos of it below and there are more online on Flickr.

Château de Boucéel - exterior and hall and stairs

It turns out that Château de Boucéel has been reincarnated a few times. There has been a castle on the land since the twelth century. It's moved a few metres too in that time

The Boucéel estate dates back to the beginning of the 12th century. It was awarded by Richard III duke of Normandy to the Pigace family. The present château is a Listed Building built in 1763. It is the third one on the estate. The second was a large square castle with four towers, typical of the Knight Templars, and a stopping place for the Mont Saint Michel pilgrims in the Middle Ages.

This one is a large “ Malouinière” ( typical Saint Malo architecture at the time of King Louis XIV) with a curve forwarded front on on the North side, with primes on the South side and two lower wings on each side that give it a wide spread.

The story of the history of the estate also recounts what happened in various wars and battles

My sketch (at the top of the post) is of breakfast on the Saturday morning and the breakfast table (linen, silver etc!) in their very grand and very lovely dining room which was panelled in wood painted a very pale pistachio colour. A curious colour but it worked really well.

It was fascinating to learn from the Comte Régis de Roquefeuil that his father had always drawn his life - in comic book style - and that this was now recorded in a book. He showed me his father's record of his honeymoon in Venice.

Arnaud de Roquefeuil, my father, has told his life in comics between 1923 and 1955. The drawings that you can visualize here come from his album which is in Boucéel.

Chronique illustrée de la Manche en guerre
by Arnaud de Roquefeuil

On this page, the website displays the cartoons his father drew during the war about his experiences between 1939 and 1945. These are published in a book called Chronique illustrée de la Manche en guerre by Arnaud de Roquefeuil. They are absolutely fascinating as contemporaneous accounts of what the war actually looked like in that part of the world. It includes one of planes in the skies overhead on D day.

I can highly recommend Château de Boucéel if you ever want to stay in the area. We were made very welcome and I had a wonderful night's sleep in a very comfortable bed followed by and a splendid Petit déjeuner. We stayed in La chambre de Charlotte which is one of the bedrooms which has three beds. I was in a separate bedroom on the other side of the bathroom - which you can se on the link. My sister and I speculated about whether we were going to go home and start creating padded walls. We'd discovered that the walls upstairs were all covered in fabric which when touched had a firm padding underneath. I just kept wondering how they were kept clean!

From here we went back to Mont St Michel and managed to get there before the hordes arrived - so the next post on this blog is all about our visit to Mont St Michel!

Links:

• Comte & Comtesse Régis de Roquefeuil-Cahuzac, Château de Boucéel, Vergoncey, 50240 France

Auberge du Terroir, Servon

Early evening at the Auberge du Terroir

8" x 10", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

On Day 6 of our French trip, we drove from Rouen down to the coast near the border of Normandy and Brittany coast to see Mont St Michel.

Given that we were going very near the beaches where the Normandy landings took place we decided to round out the education of my niece by stopping to pay our respects at one of the many second world war graveyards in the area. This one was east of Caen.

Banneville-Le-Campagne War Cemetery

Normandy contains a large number of battlefields associated with the D Day Landings and the invasion of Normandy during second world war. Consequently, there are also a large number of war cemeteries in Normandy for troops from a diverse set of countries. Those who died tend to be buried in cemeteries for the Allied Forces or for the German Troops. The cemetaries are largely associated with the D-Day landings in June 1944.

We stopped for a while at Banneville-Le-Campagne War Cemetary (location on Google Maps). It contains 2,172 graves many of which relate to Operation Goodwood which has been described as the biggest tank battle the British army has ever fought.

The cemetery contains burials from soldiers killed in the Normandy fighting, largely during the second week of July to mid August 1944. At this time Caen was finally captured, there was heavy fighting in the Bocage, and the Falaise Gap was closed as the Germans withdrew from Normandy. Casualties from Operation Goodwood particularly dominate this cemetery.
D Day Casualties - Banneville-la-Campagne War Cemetery

One of the soldiers buried there is an artist - Rex Whistler (1905-1944). He's the man who painted The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats - the mural in the Tate Britain Restaurant now named after him . (See my post Dining and sketching at the Tate Britain Restaurant June 1007)

Reginald John ('Rex') Whistler by Reginald John ('Rex') Whistler
oil on canvas, circa 1934
National Portrait Gallery

Painter, illustrator, theatrical designer and muralist, a master of pastiche and trompe-l’oeil. Whistler’s elegant baroque designs and witty murals enlivened many interiors including the Tate Gallery Refreshment Room (1926–7) and Plas Newydd, Isle of Anglesey (1936–8). He was killed while on active service during the Second World War.
National Portrait Gallery

While reviewing the data relating to these graves I found out that you can search for the details of soldiers who survived and those who died - via this website A Short Guide to researching British Army Soldiers in WW2.

Mont St Michel

We reached Mont St Michel in the late afternoon. I'm going to save my comments about it until the post for the 3rd October in which I'll include my sketch.

Château de Boucéel

We were staying overnight at the Château de Boucéel and arrived there in the late afternoon after our initial visit to Mont St Michel to be greeted by the Comte Régis de Roquefeuil - Cahuzac! We were made to feel very welcome and and the Comtesse very kindly gave me map of how to find our restaurant for the evening.

More about the chateau in the next post!

Auberge du Terroir

In the evening, we had what was undoubtedly the best restaurant meal of our whole trip. I'd booked a table at the Auberge du Terroir which was, according to Dorling Kindersley, #3 on the list of the 10 best places to eat in Normandy. I'd certainly agree with that decsription. My only sadness is that I forgot to make a note of what we ate in my sketchbook - however I do have a vivid recollection of enjoying an excellent meal. We were also the first to arrive and the last to leave!

The sketch at the top was drawn at the start of our meal in between arriving and the first course arriving.

Following the Comte's recommendation, after dinner we made our way back to Mont St Michel to park on the road and see it lit up at night. It was well worth the effort and I have to say it's much more impressive in real life than can ever be captured using a camera!

Mont St. Michel - 11pm on 2nd October 2009
photo copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Links:

• Normandy Battlefields
  
• D Day casualties - Banneville Cemetary
• Banneville-la-Campagne War Cemetery
• Google Maps - Banneville-La-Campagne War Cemetery
  
• Mont St Michel
• Chateau de Bouceel
• Auberge du Terroir

Sketching Rouen Cathedral - from my hotel bed!

Sketches of Rouen Cathedral
(left) nighttime on 01.10.09
(right) 8am on 02.10.09.
pencil and coloured pencils in Daler Rowney sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Next stop on our French trip was Rouen. Here's my post about Rouen posted while we were travelling - 2nd October: Rouen and Normandy

One of the objectives of the trip for me was to be able to see the paintings by Monet of Rouen Cathedral in the Musée d'Orsay and then to be able to see the Cathedral in real life. (Much as we had done with Monet's paintings of the garden at Giverny and our visit to Giverny)

"Voila mon atelier" Claude Monet 1880
They have better looking construction hoardings in France
- spotted next to the cathedral

I was ecstatic to find that, as promised, the hotel that I'd booked (Hotel Le Cardinal at 1 Place de la Cathédrale) did indeed look out on the Cathédrale Notre Dame. However it was off to the side rather than looking out at the front. Which was probably a very good thing as the front was completely enveloped in polythene and scaffolding - obviously some restoration going on!

What was even better was that I had a balcony which overlooked the south aspect of the cathedral. I think I did mention I wanted to draw the cathedral! Check out the video from my hotel bedroom balcony - which, for the record, was on the third floor at the front of the hotel.

I also started - but didn't finish - a sketch of the interior of the Brasserie Paul where we had dinner. It's the oldest brasserie operating in Rouen and is right next to the hotel - but it had been a very long day!

We had previously walked down to the Place du Vieux Marché (Old Market Square) which is lined with restaurants - but we were on the trail of comfort food rather than haute cuisine! It did however constitute another part of our Jeanne d'Arc trail. Rouen Castle is where she was held and tried from 21 February to 23 May 1431 and the Place du Vieux Marché is the place where she was executed by being burnt at the stake after being found guilty of being a relapsed heretic. (This site records the relevant places)

In the centre of the Place du Vieux Marché is the modern church of Saint Joan of Arc. This is a large, modern structure which dominates the square. The form of the building represents the pyre on which Joan of Arc was burnt.

I was saving myself for late night sketching - of the cathedral from my hotel bed! I did two sketches - both of which involved nothing more strenuous than lying on my bed propped up by a pillow! I did one last thing at night and one about 8am the next morning - both of which you can see at the top of the post. It was actually very interesting to see how the form of the cathedral changed in the different light and how different parts were emphasised less or more.

A view of the west front painted by Monet - above the scaffolding!

At 10am we departed for our journey across Normandy to visit Mont St Michel - via a 2nd World War cemetary asscoiated with the Normandy landings in 1944 - of which more in the next post about our French trip.

Links:

• Monet's Series Paintings - Rouen Cathedral
• Cathédrale Notre Dame on Google Maps (with photos, reviews and links to other information)
• Rouen Cathedral / Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen on Wikipedia
• Rouen - Wikipedia
  
• Rouen Cathedral (Monet) on Wikipedia
• Joan of Arc Biography
  
• Hotel Le Cardinal at 1 Place de la Cathédrale, 760000, Rouen
  

Sketchercise strikes again!

This week I got into yet another pair of jeans I haven't worn in years. As a result of sketchercise and sensible and healthy eating/drinking, I've now reduced at least two dress sizes. A weight loss of three stone is hovering into sight - I should be there by Christmas with any luck.

By way of celebration I went out for lunch at The Pavilion Cafe in Victoria Park - after a long walk of course!

Autumn Trees on the West Lake, Victoria Park (12.11.09.)
6" x 17", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Artcoe Bluebell sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

I had 'proper' smoked haddock (none of that disgusting bright yellow stuff!) with a poached egg on champ with bearnaise sauce - yuuuuuuuuuummy (see right)! My diet works on the basis that it's OK to have occasional excesses on the sauce front!

I was thinking this morning that my sketch looks very grey - but then it's a grey day for taking photos of weird sized sketchbooks (which don't scan quickly) and it was greyish day yesterday too! I've now resolved to work out a palette for grey days.

I was sat next to the window in the Cafe eating my meal when I realised that I could probably set up the digi camcorder to film me sketching. I was just about to start when the battery announced it was low - and then switched off!

However now I've got the incentive to try again!

Here's a short video of the West Lake in Victoria Park and the cafe where I go to sketch. This park and lake are just over 2 miles east of the Bank of England and the City of London - right in the centre of the East End of London!

Link:

• Sketchercise (now invitation only)
  
• A second group - Sketchercise on Flickr

Tea at The Kew Greenhouse

On our way back to the station from Kew Gardens we always pass The Kew Greenhouse which is a small cafe which always looks inviting and seems to be busy.

Tea at The Kew Greenhouse
8" x 10", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

With the earlier winter closing times, we'd missed our afternoon cup of tea in one of the Kew cafes on our last visit. So I managed to persuade Himself that we needed to stop for a cup of tea.

I of course also meant that it was time to grab a few minutes for a sketch inside where it's nice and warm.........

We were squeezed onto the only vacant table - not a great spot unless you sketch! It provided an interesting perspective on all the other people in the main part of the cafe - from behind some huge plant with lollopy leaves.

The overall format of the composition reminded me a little bit of Japanese prints.

I really must start converting my sketches into 'proper' figurative drawings as I always find them interesting to do. I simply love speculating about the relationships of different people from afar.

The really odd thing about The Kew Greenhouse Cafe - which appears quintissentially English (Miss Marple would not be out of place) - is that all the plants are artificial and the waitresses and the girls who serve behind the counter all seem to hail from an Eastern European country - not that long ago judging by the language of choice.

Only in Kew? Miss Marple would know why..........

Links:

• The Kew Greenhouse Cafe - 1 Station Parade, Kew Gardens, Surrey TW9 3PS
• Pastels and Pencils Portfolio - Interiors