Reflection in the British Museum

I sketched this bronze figue of a deity in the British Museum on Thursday = against the early evening light from the window behind. I think I must be having a "contre jour in pencil week" - this makes two on the trot!

Bronze figure of a deity
Ming 17th century, British Museum (Level 1)
11.5" x 8.5", pencil in sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

There are lots of great objects to draw in the British Museum - the range is huge.

How to find the sketching stools!

As you enter the Great Court turn immediately to your right and then look to the rear and you should see a rack of folding sketching stools. They're not the comfiest of sketching stools if you're sketching for a long time but they certainly beat walking around London carrying your own!

Sitting on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral in the sun

Yesterday evening as I was making my way back to the tube to return home after my annual check-up at Barts, I found myself drawn to sitting on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral - in blazing sunlight with a blue sky overhead and the sun getting lower and lower in the sky. I wasn't alone - there were a lot of other people with the same idea. I think we had all probably read the same weather forecast about what the rest of this week is going to be like!

Ludgate Hill from the steps of St Paul's Cathedral 11th May 2009 7pm
8.5" x 11.5", pencil in sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

This then is the sketch of Ludgate Hill done from the top step of the steps leading up to the massive Great West Doors which are the entrance to St Paul's. I had the benefit of one the gigantic pillars behind me as a back rest if required.

I had the most amazing 'contre jour' (French for against daylight) scene in front of me. The glare from the sunlight removed all colour and rendered everything in black and white and only a few shades of grey. It became a task of trying to detect changes in the blackness and how to render white paint when it was actually in full shadow.

This is one of those memorable sketches that I get to do from time to time - which I ALWAYS remembers afterwards - because of its musical accompaniment. In this instance I was treated to the full peel of the cathedral bells at 7pm while I sat sketching!

Links:

• St Paul's Cathedral official website
• St Paul's Cathedral - wikipedia
• Ludgate Hill - wikipedia

Sketching people viewing Kuniyoshi

Time out from viewing Kuniyoshi
8" x 11", pencil and coloured pencils in sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

After my visit to the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters this week (see Exhibition review: Royal Society of Portrait Painters 2009), I walked up to the Royal Academy of Arts in Piccadilly to see the Kuniyoshi exhibition.

Kuniyoshi was a major master of the ‘floating world’, or Ukiyo-e school of Japanese art, and, together with Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) and Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1864), dominated nineteenth century printmaking in Japan. Prolific and multitalented, Kuniyoshi considerably expanded the existing repertoire of the school, particularly with thousands of designs that brought vividly to life famous military exploits in Japan and China. Kuniyoshi developed an extraordinarily powerful and imaginative style in his prints, often spreading a scene dynamically across all three sheets of the traditional triptych format and linking the composition with one bold unifying element - a major artistic innovation.
RA - Kuniyoshi Exhibition

I'll be reviewing this exhibition next week on Making a Mark - this post is just about sketching. Or rather it's about sitting down after you've spent a long time on your feet viewing paintings, drawings and prints in exhibitions!

I needed a sit down and chose the end of one of the benches and started to draw people looking at the prints. This is great for mastering the 10 second sketch and awful when you haven't done it for a bit - which is why I make myself practice this from time to time. If I've got a good view then I can create a totally fictitious scene - although all the people were in the room and their stance or posture is as indicated at some point.

I hasten to add most of the people in the sketch are genuine;y 10 second sketches. If was lucky I got a minute. I had a very rough sense of perspective in my head rather than on paper while I sketched.

A navigation tip!

For anybody wanting to travel with their sketchbook - and walk from the Mall Galleries (in The Mall) to the Royal Academy of Arts, which is at 52-55 Piccadilly, this is the route which I always take which avoids most of the traffic! As indicated it takes about 15 minutes.