Here is an aquatint on copper plate, based on a drawing.
I made it at ELP Studio in Stepney. It took all day! I made 5 prints. This is one on Khadi paper which has a very strong texture.
Author: Jane
Urban sketcher, coastal artist, swimmer.
Charterhouse in the rain
A quick sketch from the Roof Terrace of Charterhouse.
From Holborn Circus
This sketch shows the new “Fleet Building” under construction on the Farringdon Road, towering over the quaint Vicarage and Court House of St Andrews Holborn.
The Vicarage and Court House are Victorian, designed by Samuel Teulon as part of the remodelling of St Andrews to accommodate the Holborn Viaduct, 1860s and 70s. Notices on the gate announce the St Andrews Church Foundation and Associated Charities. The Court House is the building with the turret, No 7 St Andrews Street. It just has a large “7” on the door.
The pinkish coloured building on the right is currently the offices of “Rosenblatt” and “Convex Capital.”
The Fleet Building is designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. It is Goldman Sachs’ “840 000 sq ft London campus”. To build it they demolished the old Telephone exchange. The murals by Dorothy Annan that were on the Telephone Exchange are now in the Barbican.
An article in a property magazine “CoStar” dated 4 Jan 2013 reads:
Goldman’s plans previously suffered a setback when the government gave Grade II listed status to 1960s murals on the front of Fleet Building, which used to be London’s largest telephone exchange.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport followed advice from English Heritage that the nine ceramic tile murals by Dorothy Annan, which depict pylons, cables, telegraph poles and generators, were of “historic interest” to the telecoms industry and had “relative rarity as surviving works of 1960s mural art”.
Goldman had opposed the listing of the murals and relocating them could be costly and time-consuming. However, as part of the conditions of the planning consent, Goldman must meet all “reasonable costs” incurred with their removal.
About 1 hour. Drawn and coloured on location. Very hot sun. Atmosphere of vanilla scented Vape Cloud. Fire alarm on Lloyds Bank ticking intermittantly.
House by the water: experimental aquatints
Yesterday I experimented with aquatint at East London Printmakers.
These are three very small plates, about 3 inches by 2 inches. Click to enlarge the picture.
No.2 Aquatint + spit bite
No.3 Aquatint + wax crayon
No.1 Aquatint + varnish
Master’s Garden, The Charterhouse
This shows the Preacher’s House. The wall on the right is next to the Clerkenwell Road. Behind the fence on the right there were bee-hives with very active bees.
About 3 hours. Drawn and coloured on location.
Here’s what it looked like before the colour went on:
Somerset Sketches
View across the Blackmoor Vale from Stoke Trister, 16th June 2017
The Bridge at Stourhead, 18 June 2017
The Charterhouse, Chapel from the Roof Terrace
This is looking South-East from the roof terrace.
Thank you to the Preacher of Charterhouse, Robin Isherwood, for arranging my access to the roof terrace. This is the view looking across a wide green space in the Queen Mary College campus, towards the Chapel and offices of The Charterhouse. The building in the foreground is part of Charterhouse, restored in the 1950s. The restoration architects were Seely and Paget, the people behind the restoration of Eltham Palace.
Newcastle Central Station
This is a drawing from the Costa Coffee at Newcastle railway station, waiting for the train to London Kings Cross, 268 miles away.
Newcastle Central Station was opened in 1850.
Architect: John Dobson
Engineers: TE Harrison and Robert Stephenson
Contractor: Mackay and Woodstock
The structure in the distance with the flag is the 13th century Newcastle Castle Keep, restored 2011 to 2015 using Heritage Lottery Funds.
This drawing took about an hour, drawn and coloured on location. Some colour and shadows added at home.
Here is work in progress:
Cornwall sketchbook
I just came back from 4 days in Cornwall, swimming with “Sea Swim Cornwall”.
I also did some sketches.
Charterhouse, Pensioners’ Court
This is from a doorway on Pensioners’ Court, which is the court beyond Preacher’s Court. The Building with the four archways is part of the Brothers’ realm: the infirmary above and the coffee room below. I don’t know what the turret is, very intriguing.
The gardens were magnificent. In front of me was that huge magnolia tree. It moved in the wind and contained darkness much darker than I have drawn it.
I enjoyed the two towers: Barbican and Charterhouse, and the way the view was bracketed by the tree on the right and the lamp-post on the left.
One hour 45 minutes, drawn and coloured on location. The day was overcast and threatened rain. Round me, a gardener was watering the borders.
It should be “Pensioners’” court (plural).
Jane Sketching 