Author: Jane

Urban sketcher, coastal artist, swimmer.

St Magnus the Martyr

Here is a view of St Magnus the Martyr, a Wren church next to London Bridge.

St Magnus the Martyr, 7″ x 10″, in sketchbook 9

St Magnus Martyr has a foundation that goes back before the first stone bridge across the Thames, which was built in 1209.

The church of St Magnus Martyr escaped the fire of London Bridge in 1633. However it was one of the first churches to be destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. It is only a few hundred yards from Pudding Lane, where the fire started. The present church was built 1671-76 to the designs of Christopher Wren. The steeple which I have drawn was added in 1703-6.

At this time, the road going to London Bridge was just to the left (west) of the Church. The clock which you see in my picture, bottom left, hung over the road. I have all this information from the extensive history set out on the St Magnus Martyr website, which includes this marvellous story about the clock:

It was presented to the church in 1709 by Sir Charles Duncombe (Alderman for the Ward of Bridge Within and, in 1708/09, Lord Mayor of London). Tradition says “that it was erected in consequence of a vow made by the donor, who, in the earlier part of his life, had once to wait a considerable time in a cart upon London Bridge, without being able to learn the hour, when he made a promise, that if he ever became successful in the world, he would give to that Church a public clock … that all passengers might see the time of day.” The maker was Langley Bradley, a clockmaker in Fenchurch Street, who had worked for Wren on many other projects, including the clock for the new St Paul’s Cathedral.

The current London Bridge was built 1825-1831. It is a little upstream (west) of the old London Bridge, so the approach road no longer goes past St Magnus Martyr.

The crane in my picture is at the junction of Gracechurch St and Eastcheap, next to Monument Station. It occupies the whole width of Gracechurch Street. It appears to be lifting concrete blocks onto the top of the building that was, for a short while, House of Fraser.

  • Placing concrete blocks
  • Looking up Gracechurch St towards Bishopsgate.
Crane in action at Monument junction, 6th March 2021, 2pm

I drew this from a deserted platform, high up near the river Thames.

  • The crane is at the head of the arrow
  • Map (c) OpenStreetMap contributors

Inked on location, coloured back home. The outside air temperature was 4 degrees C.

St Albans, Wood Street, EC2

Here is the tower of the former church, St Albans. It stands firmly in the middle of Wood Street, in the City of London.

35 Wood Street. Tower of the former St Albans. 8″ x 10″

This is no longer a church. It’s listed as residential: some lucky person lives in there!

  • Foundation:medieval
  • Rebuilt 1634
  • Burnt down in the Fire of London 1666
  • Then rebuilt to a design by Christopher Wren 1685
  • Restored to designs by George Gilbert Scott 1858-9
  • Pinnacles replaced 1879
  • Then destroyed in the Blitz 1940
  • Listed Grade II* 1950

Here’s a link with more information about this building, including pictures of what it used ot look like.

St Alban, Wood Street: an old library book and a lonely church tower

Plumage House, N1

Here is Plumage House, 106 Shepherdess Walk, London N1.

Plumage House, 7″ x 10″

This was a feather factory. According to Spitalfields Life this operated until 1994. The building is now rather shabby, though in a dignified way.

I wonder what will happen to it?

In the drawing, the main colours are Fired Gold Ochre, Buff Titanium, Phthalo Turquoise, and Perylene Maroon, with Mars Yellow and Green Apatite Genuine for the green.

Shepherdess Walk (the main street North-South) and the location of Plumage House.

A Townhouse in Shoreditch

This house is in a lovely row of Georgian houses in Shoreditch, London N1

A Townhouse in Stoke Newington, Hackney, N1. 9″ x12″ [SOLD]

The drawing was done for the people who live in the house.

I made the drawing from sketches on location, photographs, and memory. Here is work in progress:

  • Sailor pen
  • Inking
  • Ink done.
  • Paint: Rosemary Brush series 302 (flat) size 2
  • Rosemary Brush series 302 (flat) size 2
  • Preliminary sketch on location (rain on sketch…)

Here is a juxtaposition of the “ink” image with the “colour” image. Move the slider to compare the two. The yellow frame round the ink image is masking tape, which I use to protect the edges of the picture while I am working.

The colours used in this sketch are: Mars Yellow, Buff Titanium, Phthalo Turquoise (W&N), Perylene Maroon, Prussian Blue, Lavender, and Fired Gold Ochre. All colours are Daniel Smith except the Phthalo Turquoise which is Winsor and Newton. The ink is De Atramentis Document Ink Black, which is waterproof, applied with a Sailor fountain pen (pictured). The brushes I used were:

  • Rosemary Brushes Series 302 size 2, which is a small flat brush, useful for windows,
  • Rosemary Brushes “Rose of England” series 201 size 12 which is a large synthetic round brush. It goes to a fine point as well, so it’s incredibly useful.
  • I did the railings and other small details with a Winsor and Newton Series 7 size 2 sable round brush.

The paper is Arches 300gsm cold-pressed (“NOT”) 9″ x 12″ in a block.

Thank you to @ministry_of_junk for the commission!

Microsketching and memory

Here are some tiny sketches I made as a result of local walks. I have a small sketchbook, about 3½ inches by 5½ inches, the size of a big mobile phone. On my walks, I pause for a minute or so to notice a view, a detail. I make a few marks in the sketchbook, to remind me. Then when I get home, I make the sketch in watercolour, using the marks, and memory. I am trying to train my memory.

  • Monument on the South East corner of Finsbury Square.
  • Royal Exchange
  • “Shop lease available” – many “To Let” signs…
  • St Joseph, Catholic Church
  • Quaker meeting house.
  • So many instructions…
  • The pub is closed.
  • COLPAI building under construction, Central St
  • Near St Luke’s
  • Old doorway, modern windows.

Here is the sketchbook:

It is from The Vintage Paper Company of Orkney. It was bound by Heather Dewick, @heatherthebookbinder on instagram. The paper is Saunders Waterford 200gsm Cold Pressed.

A nice small size for all occasions:

St Barts Hospital, “Welcome to the Vaccine Hub”

Colours are all Daniel Smith Watercolours. Pen is Sailor Reglus fountain pen with De Atramentis Black document ink (waterproof).

Cloud studies

“I’ve looked at clouds..”

Here is a collection of cloud studies. This is me experimenting with “wet on wet” watercolour technique, from my desk. Click the image to see it bigger.

  • (1) Scene with boat (8″x11″)
  • (2) Clouds and sea (15″x11″)
  • (3)Shetland (12″x10″)
  • (4) Walk on the cliffs (9″x6″)
  • (5) A calm day (9″x6″)
  • (7) Headlands (9″x6″)
  • (8) Clouds and rocks (9″x6″)
  • (9) Westminster (9″x12″)
  • (10) The North Sea (7″x5″)
  • (11) “..clearing from the West later” (7″x5″)
  • (12) Clouds in the sea (7″ x5″) [NFS*]
  • (13) Headlands (8″x6″)
  • (14) Mist over the city (7″x5″) [NFS*]

This wet-on-wet technique is a learning curve. For one thing, it makes my desk where I’m working all wet. I’m not yet sure how I’m going to translate this technique into a method I can use on location. I’m working on it. It’s certainly fun to see how the watercolour flows. The technique is a bit unpredictable, like tie-dying, or sourdough baking or surfing. One has to learn to guide rather than control.

I’m learning this wet-on-wet technique from the talented watercolour artist Matthew White in a video I’ve been watching.

“An Afternoon in January”

I made a book for a young friend. It describes one of our recent adventures: a circular run we completed together, before lockdown. Here are some of the pages:

Here is the book under construction. The binding was made from the stiff cardboard from the back of drawing pads, strengthened at the spine with scrim, and covered in brown paper. In the absence of a bookbinding press I used two 12kg weights, and the breadboard. There were 32 useable sides (16 leaves), 4 signatures of 2 sheets and 1 signature of 1 sheet. The paper is Khadi smooth watercolour paper.

Work in progress on the book.

Clerkenwell Close

Here’s a corner of Clerkenwell. Drawn from photo reference.

Clerkenwell Close, 12″ x 10″ , 2nd Jan 2021
  • Daniel Smith watercolours, Raven brushes
  • Iridescent gold
  • Iridescent gold

Westminster in fog

There was fog on the Thames.

Westminster in fog (1) 10″ x 12″

The Houses of Parliament rose out of the mist.

I used this image to experiment with paper and brushes.

  • Raven brush size 6
  • Paper buckles a bit with the wash
  • Westminster in fog (2)

Carlisle Lane, Lambeth SE1

There are some wonderful railway arches near Waterloo. They are architectural marvels, with striking mathematical curves and uncountable numbers of bricks. Here is a view from underneath one such arch, on Carlisle Lane, looking North towards Waterloo.

Carlisle Lane, looking North. 12″ x 10″ From photo reference, 31st Dec 2020
Map showing location of drawing, (c) Open Street Map contributors. Click to enlarge.

The building on the left of the picture is “Canterbury House” on Royal Street, built 1959-1960. The greenery at the front is part of gardens and allotments, adjacent to Archbishop’s Park.

The white notice below the “No Entry” sign says “Except cycles”.

Here is a close up of the picture. The parts marked with arrows show where I lifted the wet paint off the paper to make a white mark.

The main colours are Phthalo Turquoise, Fired Red Ochre and Mars Yellow, with a bit of Transparent Pyrrol Orange for the traffic sign. This is on a sheet of Jackson’s watercolour paper, 12″ x 10″.