Step by step sketch of the Rose Garden, Sissinghurst

Here's a photo montage of my sketching the Rose Garden at Sissinghurst yesterday.  We were there yesterday and this time I sketched the view I sketched in April - after a very cold spring - on a very hot day in July.

My sketch of the Rose Garden at Sissinghurst 24 July 2013
pencil and coloured pencils in large (A4) Moleskine Sketchbook
all images copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Above you can the arm of "he who must not be bored while I sketch" who was asked to hold the sketchbook up against the subject matter while I took a photo.  It's not finished but we'd agreed 4.00pm was tea time and this was as far as I'd got!  I'll post the finished version when I've strengthened some of the colours.

Below are the stages of sketching

First the pencil sketch

Initial pencil sketch of the Rose Garden, Sissinghurst from the Lutyens Bench

Then I start to add hatching with coloured pencil.  I work all round the image so that I have a sense of the colour relationships and also so that I use the same colour throughout the drawing - which adds unity to the picture

When I'm working on a large sketch I very often create small patches which are the 'finished' colour but wait until I get home to do all the layers which get large amounts of paper to the same level.  I often leave off finishing the sky until I get home.

I'll post the finished version tomorrow.

Starting to add coloured pencils

...and this is where I was sat - under an absolutely glorious clematis called Clematis 'Perle d'Azur'.  I lost count of the people who photographed it while I was sat doing my sketch.

Clematis 'Perle d'Azure' and the Lutyens Bench I sat on for this sketch
- and the one I did of the same scene back in April

Below are more blog posts about sketching at Sissinghurst.

An Index of posts about sketching at Sissinghurst

• The Rose Garden at Sissinghurst - late Spring 28 Apr 2013 Sketch of the Rose Garden and photos of Sissinghurst Castle Garden April 2013.
• Sissinghurst - from 3rd hottest to 2nd coldest! 26 Apr 2013 Sketch and photos of Sissinghurst Castle Garden and Farm April 2013 plus discussion of weather and impact on plants.
• Vita Sackville West's Tower at Sissinghurst Castle Garden 01 Sep 2012 A sketch of the writing tower used by Vita Sackville West at Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Kent.
• Sissinghurst Moat and Orchard in Spring sunshine 1 Apr 2012 Sketch of the moat plus photos of the orchard on a sunny Spring day at Sissinghurst in March 2012.
• Sketching the Herb Garden at Sissinghurst 24 Sep 2011 Yesterday we went to Sissinghurst. I left "he who must not bored while I sketch" reading The Economist and his latest book about The Eagles, while sat in the Chair in the Cottage Garden while I sketched down in The Herb Garden
• The Gazebo at Sissinghurst 17 Sep 2009 The Memorial Gazebo at Sissinghurst, built of Kentish weatherboard, was dedicated in 1969 to Sir Harold Nicolson (husband of Vita Sackville-West) by their sons, Ben and Nigel.
• Sissinghurst - and tips for time limited sketches 08 Sep 2009 This particular sketch was done right at the end of a trip to Sissinghurst in August. "He who must not be bored while I sketch" read his book sat in the chair outside the cottage while I sat on the doorstep.
• Sissinghurst and the BBC4 documentary 15 Mar 2009 This is a view I love every time I visit Sissinghurst - of the fields seen through the arches of the great Elizabethan Farm.
• Spring fields from Sissinghurst 16 May 2008 This was my sketch from the windows of the Barn Restaurant at Sissinghurst on Monday afternoon which I did while I drank my afternoon cup of tea
• Spring at Sissinghurst 15 May 2008 Here's my latest sketch of the garden at Sissinghurst.
• The White Garden, Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Kent 11 Sep 2007 We went to Sissinghurst Gardens in Kent on Friday and I produced the above sketch while sat in the corner of the White Garden. The White Garden only contains flowers which are white and rather a lot of 'silver/grey foliage
• Autumn at Sissinghurst 13 Sep 2007 Sissinghurst can be very limiting as to set-ups because they won't allow a lot of things (easels/tripods/chairs) into the gardens because of health and safety concerns as the gardens are so popular.
• More sketching at Sissinghurst and a salutary tale 07 Sep 2007 (of a sketch done in 2005) This sketch was a bit of a challenge in terms of placement and perspective, although, to be honest the only perspective I was interested in was whether the trees forms had recession - despite being different in type, shape and colour!