Canal Building, 135/7 Shepherdess Walk, N1

Here is The Canal Building, at the north end of Shepherdess Walk, sketched yesterday from the junction with Eagle Wharf Road.

The building overhanging, in the top right of the drawing is part of Angel Wharf, 164 Shepherdess Walk. Shepherdess Walk leads over the Regents Canal, the bridge is just behind the cars in the picture. The buildings you see above the cars are on the other sidee of the canal. On the left is the “Wenlock Brewery”.

There is a tiny object on the roof of the Canal Building, next to the flagpole. It was hard to see what it was, but it looked like a wooden owl.

The Canal Building is a former 1930s Art Deco warehouse. In 2000, it was converted into apartments and commercial space to the design of the architects Child Graddon Lewis. This building gained the architects a place amongst the finalists for the 2023 Architecture Today Awards, in the category “Mixed Use and Retail”. There are 35 new apartments, 45 live/work units and 1100 sq metres of commercial space. Here are photos of the building from the canal side.

I did the pen on location and added the colour at my desk later. It was cold outside and I was sitting on a damp stone wall. Many people were out and about in the area, and two of them stopped to say hello and look at the drawing.

There are just three main colours in the sketch: Buff Titanium, Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue.

• Buff Titanium for the Canal Building
• All greys and blacks are Ultramarine Blue plus Burnt Umber
• Ultramarine Blue for the blue car, the blue notice, and in the sky
• The trees are Burnt Umber
• And that’s it! There is a bit of Mars Yellow for the car number plate.

All colours are Daniel Smith except the blue, which is Schminke Horadam.

This is my first sketch in a new sketchbook!

Here are some other sketches I’ve done in Shepherdess Walk: