From the entrance to the orchestra.
This was a quick sketch. The longer drawing was from under the tree at the top left.
Category: Watercolour
watercolour, pen and wash
The Theatre, Ancient Aptera
Ancient Greek and Roman theatre, first constructed 3rd century BC, modified by the Romans 1st century AD. In the 20th century it was used as a lime kiln, remains of which were still there when we first visited here in 2009. In the last 5 years the remnants of the lime kiln have been removed, and the theatre is much restored. EU funding acknowledged on the notices.
Drawn and coloured on location. About an hour.
Still life with beach stones and binoculars
Objects on a glass table. The paint dries quickly in the sun.
The Post Office Tower from Lloyd Street WC1
A quick sketch on location, wash done at home later.
I stood in front of Bethany House, built 1882-4 for the Sisters of Bethany, and now a hostel for homeless women.
Lloyd Street constructed 1830s. Post Office Tower (now the BT Tower) completed 1964.
The Shard from Wykeham House, Union Street, SE1
A bit of Wykeham House is on the right. It’s a brick built, Art Deco type building. I was sitting on the steps of the flats, behind the iron railing. Twice during my drawing, residents edged past me, very politely, trying not to disturb me.
On an adjacent building, Waynfleet House, I saw a notice:
“This tablet commemorates the official opening of these buildings by
THE RT REV RICHAD GODFREY PARSONS the Lord Bishop of Southwark
on Saturday 14th May 1938.”
The badge was that of the “Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England”.
In the Southwark Council publication “South of Union Street and North of Borough Road Character Area Appraisal 2007” I read that:
“There are a number of sites which contribute poorly to the character and appearance of the area and the historic environment. As such it is recommended that they be nominated for re-development”.
Wykeham House and its neighbours is so listed. The group is also excluded from the “Union Street Conservation Area” currently on the Southwark Council Website.
This is a pity, in my view. They have these lovely curved bricks which I have tried to draw, and represent this period of architecture well.
From Oxo Tower Wharf, SE1
On the right, Bargehouse Oxo, with all those colours in the brickwork of the wall.
Ahead, “Sea Containers House” 22 Upper Ground SE1.
This is now a luxury hotel “Mondrian” and office space.
Rising above them, the tower block is One Blackfriars, under construction.
Drawn from outdoors balcony on the first floor of the Oxo Tower, about one and a half hours, drawn and coloured on location.
When I was selling software services to Central Government, in the 1980s, I visited Sea Containers House. It was then the headquarters of Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise. The story was that they had accepted this rather swanky hotel in lieu of VAT payment. At that time, the smart offices seemed to have landed from another planet into dilapidated former docks. I picked my way on wooden boards over mud, taking care of my smart shoes. On the door was an officer in a starched shirt, and gold epaulettes.
In 2011 Sea Containers House was renovated, and has only recently been completed. The Golden Balls on the river side were removed, and sold.
Postscript:
Walking along a dock in Aberdeen I saw this notice:
The notice is dated “March 1995”. The address, “New King’s Beam House” is Sea Containers.
Barbican Staircase
This is the staircase from Podium Level down to the Lakeside. It’s a magnificent sculptural piece of architecture: it appears free floating, a mass of concrete in the air.
Drawn in the sun after a lunch in the Barbican Kitchen. The wind kept shifting my art equipment around, and the shadows changed as the clouds came and went.
About an hour and 15 minutes, drawn and coloured on location.
Andalucian Sketchbook
Here are my sketches from our visit to Fuengirola, Costa del Sol, Spain, 2nd-9th March 2017.
Various sketches 
in Malaga airport. There was a strike of French air traffic controllers. So there were long queues.John thought he recognised someone in the queue. He mentally blackened the white hair, flattened the large stomach, and smoothed out the wrinkles, and saw an old school friend. But he couldn’t be sure. The airport was full of English types.
Crossrail site from Moorgate
I wanted to draw this view before it disappeared. Today, Moorgate was closed completely to motor traffic, so it was calm to draw, though windy and cold. It rained, as you see from the droplets on City Point.
The Globe Pub, 19th Century, is on the left. The small square notice says:
“In a House on this site
the Swan and Hoop
John Keats
Poet
was born 1795″
The City Point tower is in the background. This was built in 1967, and refurbished in 2000, when the curved projection at the top was added. The designer for the refurbishment was Sheppard Robson. Here’s what the Citypoint website says.
“The building’s spectacular entrance canopy is approached through the public square, leading to two dramatic twelve storey cathedral-like galleria, offering an inviting and exhilarating experience for both occupiers and visitors alike. The two gallerias allow natural daylight to penetrate into the heart of the development, creating a feeling of scale and corporate arrival.” – http://www.citypoint.org.uk/
The building next to the Globe pub is propped up with steel girders. The “Jones Bootmakers” sign hangs on. Cables pour out of one of the windows.
This took about 1½ hours, pen and ink on location. I coloured it later, at home. On the way back the wind blew. Outside the Barbican Centre, the wind caught the hair of a woman on a mobile phone and blew it straight upright. She had very long blonde hair, so she looked amazing, like someone in a cartoon dropping down a lift shaft.
Here’s the black and white sketch:
Hide Tower from Vincent Square
This 1961 tower block contrasts with the 19th Century buildings of Vincent Square. It is in SW1, Westminster, near Tate Modern.
An “early use” of pre-cast concrete according to Pevsner(1), who also tells me that the architect was Stillman and Eastwick Field for Westminster City Council. I went and looked through the “long bands of fenestration” at the “Brutalist exposed staircase”.
The Hide Tower Resident Management Board is composed of, and run by, residents, according to their website.
They say:
We are responsible for providing the residents of Hide Tower with these services
day-to-day repairs
cleaning
letting flats
mutual exchanges
tenancy checks
management transfers
admitting or denying right to buy applications
parking
emergencies
complaints
general enquiries
CityWest Homes is responsible for
collecting rent from tenants
taking legal action against residents, if necessary
From “A letter from Pimlco” (sic) website, written by people who live in the tower, I learned that:
Approximately a quarter of the accommodation is privately rented; the other half is rented from Westminster City Council and the remainder is owner occupied.
I thought it was interesting that the residents themselves, via their Board, are responsible for “admitting or denying right-to-buy” applications. I wonder what their criteria are.
While I drew this picture, there was continual drilling coming from the basement of the house to the right of the picture. They were evidently excavating the basement. Piles of rubble were in the front garden. As I walked past, I smelt pine sawdust.
Behind me were cheers and shouts of encouragement to players of a team game on the grass of Vincent Square. Young people in purple and grey uniforms walked past. One young man with a rucksack said to me, “It’s really great, what you are drawing, really great”. That was encouraging.
An older man stopped, and said “You need a stall”. I thought that’s what he said. I wondered if he meant I should set up a stall, selling pictures from the railings of Vincent Square, as they do along the railings of Kensington Gardens. I said nothing, and must have looked baffled. He repeated his assertion, and then I realised he had said “stool”, “you need a stool to sit on”. I have in fact wondered about a stool. And I do have my suitcase, which I can sit on, though it is very low. I pointed out that if I sat down, the parked car would obstruct my view. “Trust a woman’s logic!” pronounced the man. I thought that was anyone’s logic. No-one, man or woman, could see through the very opaque Citroen. But I said nothing. He waved and took off with a grin, as though he had got the better of me, which perhaps he had. I was puzzling that, for several minutes.
Then I went and had a mug of tea in the Regency Café, 90p.
(1) Nikolaus Pevsner and Simon Bradley, “The Buildings of England: London 6, Westmenster”
Jane Sketching 