Clerkenwell and Britsih Museum

The strategy for the day was how long could we sketch before needing to take refuge in the Crown Tavern behind us. Bridget Strevens-Marzo and I braved the rain gauging our tolerance, and the paper's tolerance, to how much rain was falling before taking refuge. It had to rain hard enough we were getting soaked before moving. My first sketch was meant to only be a warm up but I got so in to reporting the British phone box and the interesting windows of the building across the road, I just kept going. I am a figurative artist and I don't draw architectural elements often. I really liked the kind of discipline it was taking to stay with a drawing just putting down what I saw.

Clerkenwell view looking out from the outside tables at the Crown Tavern.

I didn't manage to sketch Londoner Bridget wrote about. I wish I had! We couldn't get over his determination to drink his wine, read his kindle and smoke his cigarettes. Often we caught him laughing at whatever he was reading, never allowing the rain to move him with his umbrella for cover. That's what I call determination to enjoy a summer day regardless of what the heaven's threw down.

I never draw small. We have a wonderful woman in our crit group, Clare Tovey, who consistently brings to group these little drawings full of activity and detail. So I had to let her know that not meaning to, I had done a small, detailed drawing. What was also interesting is that though Bridget and I were sitting at the same table, our chairs where just enough apart that the elements in our views were placed differently. I didn't get far enough down in the drawing to start adding the chairs of the little outside cafe we were sitting in. And I remembered something, small drawings take a lot longer.

The amazing monolithic head below me on the stairs at the British Museum. Should have added a person to show how large this head really was.

After Heather Kilgour arrived and Bridget had to go back to the studio, we headed to the British Museum. We had just enough time to get in another drawing - in a bigger sketch book! Inside the museum are two sweeping stairways that take you upward from the main floor. We perched ourselves on the stairs looking down onto museum visitors of all ages and sizes and these amazing monolithic sculptural forms. For both drawings I used a prismacolor dark umber pencil. Truly soft and luscious to sketch with.

We ended the day viewing Victor Ambrus' illustrations at the Illustration Cupboard and sharing drawings, illustrations, news and techniques. What a great day the rain couldn't stop from happening.