Burlington House Courtyard - and sketching locations

The Royal Academy - Courtyard of Burlington House - in the rain
11" x 17", pen and ink and coloured pencils in large Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

This is a sketch of the courtyard of Burlington House, off Piccadilly, drawn from the covered terrace in front of the Royal Academy of Arts.

Our Drawing London Group in late September was supposed to be visiting my local park in East London but I spotted that the forecast was for heavy rain so we needed to relocate to somewhere which offered a variety of drawing locations which were dry.

We were sheltering from the rain under the covered verandah at the front of the RA but even so I had to keep moving back as the drizzle drifted onto my sketchbook as the wind changed!  However the rain did make for some interesting challanges such as trying (as with the Tate ketch) to find colours in the grey day and neutral stone of the building and courtyard.  It was there to find but you had to look hard and find the nuances.

Burlington House

Did you know Burlington House is not just home to the Royal Academy of Arts

Since 1874, Burlington House has been home to:

• Society of Antiquaries
• Royal Academy of Arts
• Linnean Society
• Geological Society
• Royal Astronomical Society
• Royal Society of Chemistry (formerly The Chemical Society)

Together, the societies contribute to the cultural, historic, natural and scientific cultural environments.

Places to sketch in and around Burlington House

We chose Burlington House and round about as there's lots of interesting stuff to draw in the vicinity - even when it's raining!  Here's my list divided into wet weather and dry weather options

Wet Weather Sketching Locations

• the architecture of Burlington House (which can be drawn from the covered verandah)
  
• sculpture in the courtyard of Burlington House
• interior of the Royal Academy of Arts generally
• exhibitions at the RA
• interior of the Restaurant at the RA
• interior of The Friends Room at the RA (a frequent occupation of mine)
• interiors of Fortnum & Mason opposite - I have a whole series devoted to eating and drinking tea there!  See Interior Landscapes - drawings by Katherine Tyrrell (all done 'on the spot')
• interior of The Burlington Arcade (on the nother side of Piccadilly) and the The Princes Arcade
• (on the south side) 

Dry Weather Sketching Locations

• the traditional (preserved) shop fronts in Jermyn Street eg Floris at 89 Jermyn Street and Paxton & Whitfield opposite St. James's Church at 93 Jermyn Street - see Google Streetview to see what I mean
  
• La Maison du Chocolat (Londres), 45-46 Piccadilly - a chocolate shop on the north side of Piccadilly
• St James Church on Piccadilly
• the Piccadilly Market in the courtyard of St James Church