More drawings from the London class

In the morning this Thursday, we explored the strong architecture of the Barbican Centre, a place where people can seem very small next to towering buildings, where bright open spaces are often strongly contrasted with dark cavernous areas, and where walkways on different levels can seem a bit like a warren

The first drawing focused on the scale and the light. In the second drawing I wanted to do two things: firstly explore the sense of people on the walkways on different levels dominated by the architecture, and secondly to experiment with ways of not letting the edges of the rectangle of paper determine where the drawing should start and stop. Drawing with the board on a diagonal was an interesting way to draw, and I soon found I needed to extend the paper along one direction…

In the afternoon, more drawing of light and shade, and scale of architecture – this time in the interior of the magnificent St Bartholomew’s Church at Smithfield – a church that has been at the heart of this important area of London for a thousand years. I have to confess that I’d never been inside before. If you’re in London, don’t miss it – it’s a quietly powerful gem of a building.

The autumn light faded and the church got darker. The drawing’s not finished because I ran out of time, but I’m also not sure what I’d do next, anyway..