The Green Bridge

The Green Bridge and Mile End Park
8" x 10", pencil and coloured pencil
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Continuing the theme of sketches from London, the next few posts will be about sketches of areas in East London. This is an extract from one first posted on Making a Mark 0n 29 April 2006.

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This sketch (which took maybe 15 minutes and was then coloured from memory using coloured pencils when I got home) is of one of our local millenium projects - except it's in the background of this sketch. We have a "green bridge" which goes over the main road from Essex and the east of England into the City of London. It connects up two bits of Mile End Park which is a long linear park which runs most of the way from the formal and traditional Victoria Park down alongside the Regents Canal nearly as far as the River Thames. (Mile End Park was the temporary home of Rachel Whiteread's "House" which won the Turner Prize in 1993.......and the Anti-Turner Prize!).

The base of the Green Bridge is tiled in vivid green tiles but its underneath is actually brilliant yellow. The reason it's "green" though has nothing to do with the tiles - as it also has a walkway and grass and trees growing on top! You can see a nice photograph of it by Bob Stuart here. I was sat on the wall of the round pond bit on the left and was looking over to the right of the photo.

The 'modern' landscaped area within Mile End Park also seemed to hold some attractions for school students who doubtless were on a free period from school!

Technorati tags: art , coloured pencils , drawing , moleskine , sketching , sketchbooks , pencil , plein air

Canary Wharf Sky 31st january 2007

Canary Wharf Sky from Greenwich 31st January 2007

8" x 10" pencil and coloured pencil in Moleskine sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Otherwise known as the supermarket shop can wait! I'd put off the big supermarket shop for as long as I could - but had a spot more procrastination while sketching about 50 feet to the right of the Prime Meridian (which put me into the Eastern Hemisphere!) at the top of Greenwich Hill and next to the Old Royal Observatory, the home of Greenwich Mean Time.

I'd wrapped up well but it was still very cold and I need to remember to bring something to sit on as cold stone is very, very cold!

As I commented earlier in the blog, the Canary Wharf Sky series will mostly be small works of the skies I can see above Canary Wharf from my home but that it would also include some larger works. I'm minded to do some very large drawings from where I sat yesterday of the view. Maybe on a regular basis throughout the year? Maybe once a month?

It was very odd doing the sky and the buildings but from another perspective. I also noticed that the very blue bit of sky was very high - like a strip across the sketch - just like we all used to draw sky when we were little. Also that many of the higher buildings were in an aqua glass material which made them much less intrusive - which I'd never really thought about before.

This sketch shows both sides of the River Thames. Nearest to me is the large green space at the bottom of the hill in Greenwich Park. On the far left (in shadow) is the National Maritime Museum which is the largest maritime museum in the world - very good for keeping small boys, dads and granddads occupied! Then the pale stone building is the Old Royal Naval College next to the River. This is where I sketched the skaters on the ice rink that I sketched on Boxing Day.

Beyond that is the River Thames - which you can see between the towers of the naval college. On the other side of the Thames is the Isle of Dogs and the East End of London - which is where many of the docks used to be. The skyscrapers are built along side the wharves in the Canary Wharf Area. In the far background are the hills of north London. Off the page to the left the Thames continues into the city of London and the West End and to the right is the Millennium Dome - and my eco-friendly supermarket - a "bastion of scientific innovation".

Note: If any of you have kids or grandkids and they like stars, astronomy or are interested in time get them to check out the Royal Observatory and National Maritime Museum websites - they're rather good. You don't get "How to make your own comet" on every website you visit! Plus there's a good set of e-learning resources for the different key stages. and some games, quizzes and art activities.

This post was first published on "Making a Mark" on February 1st 2007.

Links:

• How to get to Greenwich Heritage Sites
• Old Royal Observatory, Greenwich
  
• National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
  
• Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich
• Making a Mark: Canary Wharf Sky series

Technorati tags: sketchbook,

From Bankside to the City of London - the view from Tate Modern

St Paul's Cathedral from Tate Modern

8" x 10"pencil and coloured pencils in Moleskine sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

This last week (see note at end) I've sat in the Tate Modern at Bankside twice and sketched the view it offers of the City of London on the north bank of the River Thames. Both sketches are as completed on site in about 45 minutes using a very basic sketching kit.

• On Tuesday I had lunch next to the window in the 7th floor restaurant and watched the tidal river retreat as I drew St Pauls Cathedral (and the cranes). It's currently undergoing stone cleaning and has a rather horrendous plastic covering at one end.
• Yesterday I sat a little further along next to the window in the Friends Room on the 6th floor - with Shirley (of Paper and Threads) - and this time drew the former NatWest Tower and the Gherkin (30 St. Mary Axe) - and yet more cranes. Later on, as I walked down Cheapside - going east from St Paul's I began to realise why I could see so many cranes! They seem to be completely redeveloping this area.

The Nat West Tower And the Gherkin from Tate Modern Friends Room
8" x10" pencil and coloured pencils in Moleskine
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Note for Shirley - I've just found out that the former NatWest Tower has a bar called Vertigo 42 at the top (currently being refurbished)! Maybe we'll go for broke on aerial views on your next visit?

PS I may not post tomorrow as I'm out at two more exhibitions - this time with Vivien Blackburn. We're going to see the Pastels Society Exhibition at the Mall Galleries and Renoir's Landscapes at the National Gallery.

Note re Tate Modern - take from 'The Building' section of their website:

By about 1990 it was clear that the Tate Collection had hugely outgrown the original Tate Gallery on Millbank.....Tate Modern was created in the year 2000 to display the national collection of international modern art (defined as art since 1900).....An immediate problem was whether the modern art gallery should be a new building or a conversion of an existing building, if a suitable one could be found. As a result of extensive consultations, particularly with artists, it was decided to search for a building to convert. When the building that is now Tate Modern presented itself, it appeared something of a miracle. It was a former power station that had closed in 1982, so it was available. It was a very striking and distinguished building in its own right, by the architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. It offered all the space that was required. Not least, it was in an amazing location on the south bank of the River Thames opposite St Paul’s Cathedral and the City of London. Plans were almost immediately formulated to build a footbridge to link the new gallery to the City. The fact that the original Tate Gallery was also on the river made a satisfactory symmetry, and meant that the two could be linked by a riverboat service.

Note: This is another post relating to travels with my sketchbook which was originally posted to Making a Mark on March 2nd 2007. An index for all London-oriented blog posts is being developed for and will be posted as a summary in the side column of this blog.

Links:

• Tate Modern
• St Paul's Cathedral
• 30 St Mary Axe (the 'Gherkin')
• Tower 42, 25 Old Broad Street ( the former 'NatWest Tower')

Technorati tags: art, colored pencils, coloured pencils, drawing, sketching, sketchbook,