Have you ever tried this with a sketch?

Superimposing sketch on scene - on the terrace at Chartwellwith Crypotomeria Japonica (Japanese Cedar) in the background
pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils

Have you ever tried superimposing your sketch on the scene that you are drawing? Below I've written my explanation of how I did this. It's not difficult but you can make it easier to do....

I normally sketch across a double page spread of my Moleskine to provide an 8" x 10" image. However yesterday, after dropping off my drawings for hanging at the Florum exhibition in Sevenoaks (opens on Saturday 12th September), we went to Chartwell.

Sat on the terrace I pondered as to what to draw while "he who must not be bored while I sketch" read the City pages. That's when I realised that I had brought out the sketchbook I finished last Saturday! (Have you ever done that?)

I was reduced to searching through it for half pages which I'd not used.

Given that Chartwell is a "big view" place I was somewhat perplexed as to what to draw - and then decided to draw HWMNBB against the house and the very large Japanese Cedar (Crypotomeria Japonica) in the background.

Then decided to have a go at the trick where you superimpose your sketch over what you are drawing.  The trick is twofold:

• when you start the sketch make sure you have a horizontal and/or vertical lines in the sketch which you can line up against the scene - in my case the horizontal line was the top line of the tree shadow and the vertical line was the outside edge of the arm
• then use one hand to position the sketch over the scene and line up your lines in the sketch with the lines in the scene.
• finally use another hand to take the photo. This is when you realise a third hand might be useful! It means you must use a camera or phone which you can get level and click with one hand.

I nearly got it right. If the sketchbook had been level I would have got it almost spot on!

HWMNBB says he doesn't look like that at all - and I have to confess something went very wrong with the mouth and jawline! Top half is not bad!

The Paragon at Blackheath

On Saturday I went on a long walk to join up with London Urban Sketchers who were sketching at Blackheath (see map at end!)

I got there in time for lunch and then spent the afternoon sketching The Paragon which started life as seven pairs of houses linked by colonnaded sections built as part of the Cator Estate. They've now been split into flats. My friend Jean and her husband live in the one on the left

Western end of The Paragon at Blackheath
pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine sketchboook

We sat for most of the sketching in the afternoon under leaden grey skies - wondering if we'd need to whip out umbrellas very fast. It was certainly cold. Then just as I was getting to the end of the drawing the sun came out and produced one of those very pale turquoise skies.

Then the clouds came over and it went back to being grey!

I finished the drawing while sat in the cold but added the colour when I got home. I also need to add more grass cutting lines!

More sketches - from lunch and tea - to follow.

These are the people who came to Blackheath on Saturday - I'm taking the photo.

London Urban Sketchers at Blackheath - the end of the day lay down of sketches and group photo

This is the map of my walk. The walk from Cutty Sark Station on the Docklands Light Railway is very pleasant as it takes you through the park (uphill for most of the way) and then across the heath - so only a tiny bit of traffic for the whole walk.

From the station to the Princess of Wales pub (where we had lunch) in Montpelier Row in Blackheath is 1.4 miles and is uphill for half the distance. It's supposed to take 28 minutes and burn 114 calories - which (according to my invaluable Citymapper app) apparently equate to 0.6 packets of crisps or O.6 pints of beer. Just so you know....

The walk from Greenwich Cutty Sark Station to Blackheath.
(click to see a larger image)

VIDEO: Sketching trees in pen and ink

A new video for you - of me sketching trees in pen and sepia ink. I'm actually drawing looking over the top of iPad Mini which was used to film this video while I was sat in the shade. This is my "normal" way of drawing ie this is how fast I draw.

I'm using a Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen with sepia ink which has a very fine point plus a Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook. The latter is designed for pen and ink and line drawings and is great for this purpose.

This is the view I was drawing. I like this sketchbook a lot for pen and ink work - but I'm not so enamoured with its performance when using coloured pencils. It's got more tooth than I normally like.  The paper is a heavy weight (100lb / 150gsm) natural white paper with a plate surface.

Sketching the lake and trees at Chartwell
copyright Katherine Tyrrell
I don't find the coloured pencil is as receptive on this surface.  It's difficult to get any depth of colour.
I think I need to focus on using this sketchbook just for pen and ink drawings.

and the photo of the same view taken yesterday afternoon after I dropped off my drawings for the Florum exhibition at the Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve (the exhibition is open 6th-13th September).

The view from where I was sat - with departing art group walking up the hill
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

One of the odd/interesting things about yesterday was that there was an art group painting around the lake. I was chatting to one of them and when we introduced ourselves she knew who I was and all about Making A Mark!

More about the great plein air painting chairs they were using in tomorrow's post.

Links: Pen and Ink - Resources for Artists

Sketch of a Potager in Provence

This is for Ruth - I've just read on Facebook that she feels she no longer has enough time for her garden in Provence due to all her other commitments and is thinking of giving it up.

A potager in Provence
6 ½” x 12” / 29cm x 42cm, pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in
Moleskine A3 size Folio Sketchbook

This is my sketch of her wonderful potager (a kitchen garden) at Couguieux with Mont Ventoux in the background. I never got round to posting it on this blog although it was posted to Four Go Painting In Provence.

I absolutely adore kitchen gardens and can always be found wandering around them very slowly whenever I come across one!  It was therefore a real joy to have one to look after and sketch during our stay in the Postcard from Provence house.

I liked the fact that one had to walk a little way down the road to visit the potager - as we did every evening to water the vegetables.  All the water had to be transported using a hose and/or watering can so it is no little effort to maintain such a garden under the hot Provencal sun.

I sketched this potager just over three years ago. It was too hot to finish it and I really should have a go at doing a proper drawing of it as the view was wonderful.

It was one of my first sketches using the very large A3 size Moleskine sketchbook which means I can do large sketches with no binding line down the middle of a double page spread! If you're interested in the sketchbook you can find out more here - The Largest Ever Moleskine Sketchbook!

Sissinghurst Castle Garden in August

We paid a visit to Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Kent on a warm afternoon  in late August. Everything was set off by the brilliant blue skies.

I'm posting sketches in reverse order - because I like the one I finished last the best.  This is a coloured pencil sketch of the Rose Garden in the afternoon - with a contre jour aspect to the sunlight.  The colour was touched in while I was there and then I completed this part of the sketch at home.

You can see the very fast pen and ink sketch done in the garden below the colour sketch.

Sissinghurst Rose Garden - an afternoon in August
pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine Sketchbook, 8" x 10"
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

I was sketching very much "contre jour" so I was keen to get down the areas of darkest tone and the outlines of the shapes of the plants and flowers.

The original very fast sketch in pen and sepia ink on Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

This is the sketch I did as we sat and ate our lunch before going into the garden.

The entrance to Sissinghurst Castle Garden 27 August 2013
pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine Sketchbook, 8" x 10"
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

You can see a lot more sketches of Sissinghurst on this blog - click Sissinghurst

It's amazing how many overseas visitors this garden gets.  I lost count of the languages I heard.

Summer in the Rose Garden, Sissinghurst

Last month I posted my Step by step sketch of the Rose Garden, Sissinghurst, but I completely forgot to post the finished version - completed at home.  Until yesterday - when we started making plans for our next visit.

So here's the final version of Summer in the Rose Garden at Sissinghurst.

Summer in the Rose Garden, Sissinghurst (24 July 2013)
pen and ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine Sketchbook, 16" x 11"
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

A lot of what's done at home is about strengthening colours as opposed to identifying them. Sometimes I need to build up a few layers to get proper darks.  My preference is for using complementary colours to get an optical dark green - and I find the colours red and orange come in very useful for toning down the blue of greens!

I also find other tricky bits are getting the blooms to "come out" of all the foliage and finding differences in the greens so it doesn't look like one massive green splodge!

See more of my sketches and drawings of gardens on my website - Pastels and Pencils - Houses & Gardens - sketches and drawings by Katherine Tyrrell or in Pastels and Pencils Katherine Tyrrell travels with a sketchbook - in England

If you'd like to get inspired to sketch, draw or paint gardens check out my website Gardens in Art - Resources for Artists. This is for artists who enjoy drawing or painting your own garden or gardens you visit. Its contents cover gardens in art and how to draw and paint gardens.

Find out more about Sissinghurst - see Sissinghurst Castle Garden - a great garden

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!

A step by step sketch of the Long Border at Great Dixter

We visited the wonderful garden at Great Dixter yesterday.  The garden was full of tourists from Europe who'd come specially to see the garden - which was looking very full of flowers and plants and absolutely splendid as usual.

My sketch of the Long Border at Great Dixter
pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Large Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Below are step by step photos of how I got to the above (unfinished) sketch which I did while sat on the seat at the end of the Long Border.  I thought people who've not seen one of my step by steps before might find it interesting.

Media used are as follows.  Links go to either my website Pastels and Pencils - Art Materials or to the Sketching Toolkit module within my website Travel Sketching: How to sketch the places you see

• Large A4 sized Moleskine Sketchbook
• a Pentel e-sharp mechanical pencil
• a Pilot G-TEC-C4 gel ink rollerball using brown (sepia) ink
• a variety of coloured pencils

Here's the sketches one by one

Sketch #1:  Mapping a pencil outline and guides

This was a complicated sketch, both in terms of subject matter, zones, and perspective.  So, as I knew I was going to be drawing with pen and ink I decided to give myself a little bit of help.

I first took a photo.  That's something I very often do to work out what to make the four lines around the edge of the sketch - what to leave in and what to leave out.

I looked at my photo and used it to map out some very rough guidelines quickly in pencil.  This took me no more than two minutes.  I was mentally looking for halves, quarters and thirds relative to the picture format as I found my guidelines.

I added in a bit of shading afterwards just to remind myself where the darks are - it's help to locate places within the picture when doing a complicated sketch.

Pencil guidelines and a bit of pencil hatching re darker tones
mechanical pencil in Large Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

2. Starting to draw with pen and sepia ink

This photo was taken after I started to draw in the lines I wanted for my sketch. I highlight shapes - both large and small, squiggley edges of plants, edges of tonal areas, important lines and edges which guide in and around the sketch eg edge of the path, roofline.

I also started to add in hints of the colours as I find this helps me with the drawing.  Saves time trying to work out which bit is which!

Starting the pen and ink drawing for the sketch
pen and sepia ink in Large Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

3. Starting to add Coloured Pencil

Initial layers of coloured pencil are focused on the things I need to resolve the distances involved.  I find if I get the foreground, middle ground and background issues resolved I then find it easier to find my way around a complicated sketch.

At this stage there are lots of "notes to me" in this sketch - of things that need to further developed and finished later.  For example, I'm using ink to hatch in the beginnings of what will become darker areas.  Plus I'm locating the colours of specific flowers in the border.

Starting to add coloured pencils
pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Large Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

4. More Coloured Pencil

One of the main things I do when using coloured pencils is to mix colours and tones on the page.  I don't want the 2D flatness that you get when you use just one colour for an area of colour.

For example, there's about six colours in that roof and about four shades of green in the strip of grass alongside the path.

I'm also constantly tying in colours laid down in one place to colours used elswhere - which adds unity to the development of the sketch

Starting to think about darker tones and variation within 'one colour' areas
pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Large Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

5. Where I've got to

The sketch as it stands at the moment (see top) is where I got before "he who must not be bored while I sketch" decided it was time for tea!

It needs finishing.  Everything is a little bit too light.  The light areas need more darks so they'll start to pop. The main thing is that I needed more greens to complete the trees and the hedges.

I'll post the proper sketch when I've finished it.

UPDATE:  Here's the movie of a slideshow of the sketches!

This is how it was made - Sketching slideshow - iPhoto to slideshow to Quicktime Movie

More sketches of Great Dixter

Below there are more sketches of Great Dixter - ordered chronologically.  There's even another sketch of the Long Border!

• The Bird Topiary at Great Dixter 15 Nov 2011
• The Long Border at Great Dixter 28 Jul 2008
• Great Dixter in the Spring 16 Apr 2008
• Great Dixter 29 Aug 2007

More about Great Dixter and gardens

These are some more links which you may find interesting if you like gardens

• Great Dixter - house and gardens, High Park Close, Northiam, Rye, East Sussex, TN31 6PH
• Map of Great Dixter
• Great Dixter - Garden Tour
• Great Dixter - The Long Border
• Twitter account for the Garden's Business Manager
• Great Dixter Facebook Page
• A Year at Dixter - the blog of Maggie Tran is the 2012-13 Christopher Lloyd Scholar at Great Dixter
• Great Dixter - a great garden - information for those wanting to pay an actual or virtual visit
• Gardens in Art - Resources for Artists
• my blog post on Making A Mark about Gardens in Art: Arts and Crafts Gardens #1
• Pastels and Pencils - some of my sketches of gardens and parks in England

Bali - paddy fields and palm trees

Palm trees and paddy fields in Bali

28 April 1997

Neocolor II in Daler Rowney Sketchbook

I had paddy fields right outside the window of where I stayed in Bali.

However we saw some some pretty spectacular views of paddy fields on the hillsides of Bali as we travelled around the island.

One afternoon we stopped at a point where it's possible to draw the rice fields.

This was my sketch for working out what I wanted to do with my plein air pastel.  Sadly the latter never happened because:

• it took a long time to work out how to represent the palm trees and the paddy fields.  Never under estimate how much time you need to get your eye trained to draw new objects!
• it started to cloud over and then began to rain and pastel and rain do not mix!

I really feel like I didn't do the view justice - but it was overwhelming!

I still have the photographs I took while trying to work out the best angle for a drawing.

However it's very evident to me that even though photographs are generally unable to provide a reliable colour reference that my neocolors did not provide the colours I needed for this sketch.  Everything is looking a bit too blue whereas the vegetation while lush leaned more towards apple / sap green end of the green spectrum - with some deep olives around the palm trees.

Writing this post has made me want to have another go at capturing the scene and the colours.

You can see below some of the photos I took.  The view was spectacular.

Paddy fields in front of me - on so many different levels!

This next one shows the level on which i sat - I was perched on a narrow ledge just in front of one of the hawker's huts (which is hidden by the very prominent palm tree at the front of the photo).

I was sat on a ledge just in front (to the right in this photo)
of the Hawker's Huts

The spot where we stopped was obviously a regular tourist stop judging by the hawkers' stalls and sheds.  One of the hawkers provided a very entertaining sideshow for our expedition.  He was very adept at splitting coconuts for drinks and nibbles!  Plus modelled three hats at once to show how stable they were on one's head!

The most entertaining hawker
three hats on his head and ready to split a coconut at our command!

This last photo shows one of my fellow painters sat in front of the vista of paddy fields and palm trees.  Not a place for easels!

First take a big sheet of paper.........

From here we went to Petalu - a small village north of Ubud - to see the white herons (kokocan)  of Petalu coming home to roost in the trees along the road to the temple.  They arrive from all over Bali.

This is a video of the White Herons of Petalu by a couple called Hans and Fifi which gives you a good sense of the sights and sounds of Bali villages but doesn't quite capture the moments just as dusk falls when wave after wave of white herons arrive and land in the huge trees lining the road to the temple.  Magical!  (This site has some good photos of a celebration associated with the herons and the village - and provide some commentary on what has happened at the village in the past).

Links:

• Travels with a Sketchbook - Bali Sketchbook (1997)
• Pastels and Pencils - Katherine Tyrrell travels with a sketchbook - in Bali

The Rose Garden at Sissinghurst - late Spring

Let me provide a caveat for the title of this post - this is the Rose Garden at Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Kent in April after an exceptionally late Spring (see Sissinghurst - from 3rd hottest to 2nd coldest!)  Which means there was very little to sketch in terms of flowers.

So I went for the big shapes instead!

The Rose Garden at Sissinghurst Castle Garden (22 April 2013)
11" x 16", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Normally "he who must not be bored while I sketch" sit next to me on a bench and he reads his book while I sketch the scene.

However HWMNBB has got himself a new camera!  So this time you get a photo of the sketcher sketching the view as well!  He climbed all the way up the top of the tower to take this one.  Could this be a sign of things to come?  However I still retain editorial control - which is why you're not seeing the one which has provided an imperative to diet!

Katherine Tyrrell sketching the Rose Garden at Sissinghurst
Copyright: He who must not be bored while I sketch.

Here's some more photos of the gardens.

There wasn't  a lot going on in The White Garden although the absence of foliage pointed up the geometry nicely.

Not a lot going on in The White Garden, Sissinghurst Castle Garden 
(22 April 2013)
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Here's the view of the White Garden from the other way on

The view of the White Garden from the Lower Courtyard 
(22 April 2013)
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

In fact, one of the advantages of the visit is that it emphasised the lines of sight and views between the garden rooms which had been deliberately designed into the overall plan for the garden.

The Rose Garden Statue from the Lower Courtyard
(this is the same statue as the one which can be seen at the end of the vista in my sketch)
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

For those of you who have a National Trust Calendar for 2013, compare the April page of the calendar with this view of the same corner of the Cottage Garden - that's how far behind everything is because of the cold weather!

View of the Moat Walk from a very "late" Cottage Garden 
(22 April 2013)
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

The one area which was holding its head up high was The Nuttery where the spring flowers were rampant - I guess because they've had some shelter during the cold weather.

The Nuttery - note the Trilliums in the foreground
(22 April 2013)
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

We'll be back again when the weather is better!

Note:  The Rose Garden in Summer is amazing.  Rose growers might be interested in an old newspaper article I found about how roses are grown at Sissinghurst - see Growing roses, the Sissinghurst way

LINKS

• Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Biddenden Road, near Cranbrook, TN17 2AB (Google Maps)
• National Trust - Sissinghurst Castle Garden
• Travels with a Sketchbook - more posts about Sissinghurst
• Sissinghurst Castle Garden - a great garden - detailed information about the garden

Sissinghurst - from 3rd hottest to 2nd coldest!

We rushed off down to Kent on Monday because it looked like it might be sunny - and we've not seen much sun of late! We paid our first visit of the year to Sissinghurst Castle Gardens.

Last year we visited towards the end of the UK's third hottest March since records began and I enjoyed sketching daffodils next to the Moat sat in the sunshine with bare arms!  See Sissinghurst Moat and Orchard in Spring sunshine.

This year we had the UK's second coldest March on record!  Heavy snow covered a lot of the country and everywhere else was just very cold.  As a result, we've only just started to venture out to look at gardens - if for no other reason than it's been so cold there's very little to look at!  Everything is about 3-4 weeks behind where it would normally be.  I'm not in the least bit surprised to see that the National Trust has cancelled the Bluebell and Wild Flower Walk planned for this weekend.

On Monday, we arrived late morning and after a quick visit to the veggie garden and the nursery and the purchase of some narcissi and tulips, we had lunch in the Granary Restaurant.  The nice thing about the food is that this is supplied by Sissinghurst's own vegetable plot and tenant farmer.  So nothing travels very far!

This is my sketch done over lunch.  It's the view from the windows overlooking the fields which are part of the farm.  It's very odd because it almost looks like it's Autumn despite the fact it's the third week of April!  Compare it to Spring fields from Sissinghurst to see what I mean.

Sissinghurst - The view from the restaurant 22 April 2013 1.00pm

This weekend I'll be publishing another post about the visit - with my sketch of the Rose Garden - and a photo of me sketching it taken by "he who must not be bored while I sketch" from the top of the Tower

In the meantime here are a few photos of the gardens this week.

The Orchard at Sissinghurst

The Moat Walk, Moat and Tower at Sissinghurst

Lime Walk at Sissinghurst

Birch, Witch Hazel, Acer Palmatum, Fir - at Sheffield Park

This week we went to Sheffield Park, near Uckfield in West Sussex, for our annual trip to admire the colours of the Autumn landscape.  It was a very grey day - which of course is the very best sort of day for seeing the colours!

It's always a bit of a challenge to get a sketch done here as the landscape garden is not over-endowed with seats - which is very odd as people are always giving seats to other gardens!

However we did manage to nab the seat to the left of the Cascade Bridge from where I did this sketch.  I had planned to do more but it was one of those damp days where it's best to keep moving before I seize up!

Silver Birch, Witch Hazel, Acer Palmatum, Fir - at Sheffield Park 25 October 2012
pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in small Moleskine sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

I'd not heard of the American Witch Hazel before but it was certainly putting on a good show with a variety of shades running from lemon through orange, coral pink and red.  According to the RHS its correct name is Mountain Wych Alder (Fothergilla major AGM) and it's a member of the Hamamelidaceae (the witch-hazel family).

I forget which type of Acer it was - but it's one of those deep plummy purple red ones and in all probility it's an Acer palmatum 'Atropurpureum' (Purple Japanese Maple).

One thing I do know - it's incredibly difficult to reproduce the colours seen on the trees in coloured pencils!

We also spotted what was left of the second largest tree in the garden - the Giant Redwood (Sequoia) which exploded after a lightning strike in January.  If you've ever wondered what the inside of a redwood looks like - see below!

After the lightning strike - Giant Redwood at Sheffield Park

Here are some photos of the trees in colour - and some links to last year's sketches of Autumn at Sheffield Park.

Links to last year's sketches:

• Autumn Colour at Sheffield Park
• Autumn reflections at Sheffield Park

Restaurant Nausicaa, Boulogne sur Mer - my last meal in France

Two sketches from my trip to France last year - and my final french meal!  I'm trying to fill in the gaps where I've missed out posting places I went to and sketches I did on my Painting in Provence trip last summer.

Today I'm posting my lunch at the Restaurant Nausicaa in Boulogne sur Mer and the view from the window.  This was the "get as close to the tunnel as you can and then stop and have a meal" meal!  The idea was that I'd leave myself with half an hour's journey to the Tunnel and I wouldn't need to have a big meal when I got back home which would be quite late.  Plus it was the last chance to indulge in French cuisine!

Lunch at the Restaurant Nausicaa, Boulogne sur Mer - 4th July 2011
11" x 16", pen and ink and coloured pencils
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

This meal continued to endorse my theory about the colour palette of chefs and the notion that chefs cook the food in the colours that they like! The dishes on the menu in my sketch are:

• L'Entree top left - Oyster, whelk and celery soup and croutons Soupe huitres et des bulots, veloute de celeri vert, petis croutons 
• Las Plat right - Grilled large prawns with a paella like creamy risotto and red pepper sauce Gambas grilles, coulis de poivrons rouges risotto crémeux au chorizo façon paëlla
• Le Dessert bottom left - Half-cooked chocolate cake Mi-cuit au chocolat

They were delicious!  I have a policy of eating one new thing every time I eat out in another country! Which is how I came to add a new food to my list of things I've eaten over the years - whelks (although I thought at the time that they were winkles).

I checked the menu and only the sauce with the main dish is what's on offer on the menu today!  Always good to see a restaurant that changes it's menu on a regular basis!

I switched between drawing the dishes as they arrived and then drawing the scene out the window as I waited for them to arrive.

My view from my table - the beach at Boulogne sur Mer
11" x 16", pen and ink and coloured pencils
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

I was sat high up next to a big glass window looking out on to the promenade and beach to the rear of the Nausicaa Centre - which is Boulogne's huge aquarium.  Small wonder that fresh fish and sea food featured on the menu!

The restaurant is actually independent of the Centre and I highly recommend it as a stopping off place to eat in the Pas de Calais for anybody facing a long journey when they get back to Folkstone. It serves excellent food and does not keep normal restaurant hours.

For the record the journey to the EuroTunnel was not straightforward as the satnav didn't understand the port and I missed the turning and then couldn't work out how to get back to the place where cars need to go to enter the Tunnel!  Calais could do with some better sign posts!

However it was nice to get back home and reach the end of my journey and a very long drive from Provence to London.

You can see

• more of my sketches from my trip to Provence and my drive there and back through France in the page at the top of this blog marked Provence Sketchbook 2011
• more of my sketches of meals by clicking on the labels:
• food sketch - this can be food in its raw form as well as food raw, uncooked and cooked.
• sketching meals - these include sketches of meals such as the one at the top of this post
• restaurant sketches - these include views from where I'm sat in the restaurant
• You can also see sketches of the interior landscapes of places to eat on my website

Links:

• Boulogne sur Mer on Wikipedia
• Restaurant Nausicaa

Hampton Court Palace and its 300 year old Yew Trees

We recently visited Hampton Court Palace next to the River Thames in Surrey.  I'd never realised before how easy it is to get to (via a train from Waterloo) or how huge it is in terms of the Palace and Grounds.  We only covered about half of it in the time we were there and, since they're only closed on the 24, 25 and 26 December, I expect we'll be going back to visit again sometime soon!

Hampton Court Palace East Front and the Yews, October 2012
pen and ink and coloured pencils, 8" x 10" in Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

As we entered the gardens (this is a map of Hampton Court Gardens) I was absolutely stunned to see the simply amazing size and shape of the Yew Trees in the Great Fountain Garden.  Apparently some of them are 300 years old having been planted around about 1707 in the time of Queen Anne.

I gather the original idea was they should be kept tightly clipped but somehow over the years they just grew and grew until we have the amazing conical shapes we see today.

Yews at Hampton Court Palace, October 2012
pen and ink and coloured pencils, 8" x 10" in Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

In this post you can see the two sketches I did while sat on one of the broad avenues bordered by the Yews which lead up to the Long Water - looking first one way and then the other.

I've since seen other images of them and I'm already thinking about better drawings I can make in the future!

Plus what I want to sketch in the rest of the Garden!

View from the Chartwell swimming pool

On Sunday we went to Sir Winston Churchill's home at Chartwell and I did a sketch I've been meaning to do for some time.

It's of Sir Winston Churchill's swimming pool - and the pool and wood beyond.  I gather Sir Winston was rather fond of damning and channeling water to create streams and pools.  I certainly did this one listening to the water running down the hillside beside me

View from Chartwell Swimming Pool
11" x 16" pen and ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Vita Sackville West's Tower at Sissinghurst Castle Garden

We went to Sissinghurst Castle Garden last month and I had a second attempt at sketching the tower where Vita Sackville West used to write her novels and gardening columns.  I love it!

Vita Sackville West's Tower at Sissinghurst Castle Garden
pen and ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine Sketchbook, 11" x 14"
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Here's my photo of the sketch at the point at which I was umming and aahing about adding in garden to the right - which in the end I decided to do as the sun came out!

Time out to have an internal debate as to whether to use two pages!

My second sketch was actually done first - and while we had eat our sandwiches and completed the crossword of "he who must not be bored".  I'm allowed to have a go at the clues he can't get!

In front is the great grass lawn which we had learned earlier this year actually covers the remains of the French soldiers who were buried there when the Castle was used as a prisoner of war camp during the Seven Years' War.

The main challenge with this one was not so much the drawing as the very dark values which inevitably had to be worked on when I got home.  It takes time to get a good intense dark! Here's where I got to on site

I then spent a very long time when I got home developing the intense dark greens which you get when looking at a big tree on a sunny day.  There is a huge amount of crimson in that tree!  It's started to make me think about developing some swatches for tree colours which I can carry round with me when drawing trees.

Sissinghurst Castle Garden - The Front from the former French Graveyard
pen and ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine Sketchbook, 11" x 16"
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Sissinghurst is a wondeful garden to visit between March and October - it changes all the time and the compartment gardens are always fascinating.  If you'd like to know more about the garden check out Sissinghurst Castle Garden - a great garden