Sketchcrawl at the British Museum (February 2015)

I always seem to be late posting sketches from Sketchcrawls! These are three from last month's Urban Sketchers London visit to the British Museum.

I avoided the architecture and stuck with the artifacts in the cases and a rather splendid sculpture above one door.  Some of them are very difficult to draw - but I'm not showing you my failures!

Painted Statue of a Woman 2000-1600BC (Old Babylonian)

British Museum 7 February 2015

Not quite sure what the name is for a statue above a door This is Indugud (c.2,500BC) - it looked like an eagle and stags to me but it was about 25 feet up in the air!
British Museum 7 February 2015

These are African Masks made from all sorts of things - but wood is very popular
The masks at the top are of Women and the ones at the bottom are of wild animals
British Museum 7 February 2015

Today there's another sketchcrawl at the V&A Museum in South Kensington which I'm leaving to join now.  It finishes at 3.30pm so still time to get along and join in!

Meet me and get 'Sketching 365' signed at the Mall Galleries TODAY!

I've only just realised I have completely forgotten to highlight on this blog that I've got my "meet the author and get your book signed" event at the bookshop in the Mall Galleries this afternoon (5th March)

Meet @jameshobbsart & me & our sketchbooks at the bookshop in the @mallgalleries @ 3pm TODAY we're signing our books! pic.twitter.com/lqsw4HMT3U
— Katherine Tyrrell (@sketching365) March 5, 2015

You've got a few hours to get up to the Mall in London and catch James Hobbs and me, see our sketchbooks and get your copies of Sketching 365 and Sketch Your World signed by us!

There is even a reduced price deal for anyone buying both books before 4pm today.
We're also very happy to answer any questions you may have about sketching and how you are getting on with your own sketches.

We'll be around until 7pm after which I think we might be joining the Pastel Society's Art Event evening.

A Cheshire Garden on St David's Day 2015

A Cheshire Garden on 1 March 2015
pencil and coloured pencils in a Stillman and Birn Zeta sketchbook  12" x 16"
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

I've been drawing my mother's garden in Cheshire for some years. I sit next to the French window into the garden and have the benefit of armchair, warmth and cups of tea while I draw the scene outside the window.

Sunday, 1 March 2015 - St David's Day - is nominally the first day of Spring in the Meteorological calendar - or so the BBC weatherman informed us!

The the weather was very good in the morning and very dim and grey in the afternoon!  Of course, the major benefit of staying in one place is that I can get up the next day and continue a morning sketch from where I left off the previous day. However, by midday, as we travelled to catch my train from Crewe, the weather had turned to sleet!

This isn't finished and I might tweak it a little bit more - but I'm loath to do too much now I'm back in London and don't have the garden in front of me.

You can see more sketches of the same garden - at different times of the year - on this blog. See:

• A Cheshire Garden in Spring - and some new plants (May 2011)
• A Cheshire garden in summer (August 2010)
• A Cheshire Garden in July (July 2011) This one features as a large image on the Section Title Page of my new book 'Sketching 365'.
• The Winter Garden (December 2011)

If you're wondering about the size of the bird table it moves around depending on the season and weather. In the winter months it's always very close to the door into the garden so Mother can feed the birds easily.