The White Building

My view of the Hertford Union Canal meeting the River Lee Navigation

You can see in the distance of this photograph on the left of the bridge stands the White Building on White Post Lane which, although it is dwarfed by larger buildings nearby, is a significant arts venue in the area and they brew their own beer and make great pizzas.

The day I chose to make this sketch was very warm and sunny and a plant had bloomed over most of the water thereby changing the colour palette from predominantly grey to an amazing neon green.

I found a bench to sit on this time which was more comfortable than my sketching stool and to my left I was entertained by a running conversation between a father and his young son as they discussed how to fix their boat.

I was happy with the way this composition came together

Drawing fail

My mobile work station

It was going to happen somewhere along the way. I was going to have at least one drawing disaster, or if not a complete disaster then starting something that I couldn't develop. I wasn't going to publish it but since I've published everything else so far I could hardly leave it out since it is part of the trip. I've been experiencing quite a lot of fatigue recently and thought I could work through it but sometimes you just can't.

My view at the end of the car park

I had previously spotted what I thought was an interesting location at the end of the German Deli car park. I popped into their shop to see if I needed permission to work in their car park overlooking the canal but the young lady behind the counter seemed that I didn't need to even ask. I'm glad I did though because I discovered that as well as having a shop they run a nice looking café too which will be worth a lunch time visit.

I set up my stool, got out my sketchbook and gazed here and there, stared left and right and nothing sparked much interest. I decided I should at least try and do something since I'd made the effort to get there so got my pens out. Often, once I start on a sketch, I forget about everything else and am often pleasantly surprised by the results. The sight of a rodent trap did nothing to improve my mood although the sight of these small figures enjoying the sun did.

More canal art

I wondered if the view of the Olympic stadium might work but it didn't appeal so I settled on a cyclist having a rest on a bench on the other side of the River Lee Navigation. As you can see I didn't pursue this for long so I decided to pack up and head home.

Sketch fail

Looking back at where I've been

Looking back along the Hertford Union canal

I haven't posted anything new on this blog for the last couple of weeks because I've been suffering from drawing fatigue. I'm not used to drawing several times a week and it took its toll on my stamina. Anyway, I am happy to report that I have recovered and am in the mood for more drawing and more writing.

The view above is more-or-less the view I had when I made this latest sketch. I was sitting at the edge of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and by the side of the River Lee Navigation. This view has given me the chance to look back at the towpath that I've been drawing for the last few months. You can see that on the left hand side the developers have built their architectural dream and there's a good chance that when the right hand side of the canal has been developed it will look fairly similar. 

I took this photo on quite a dull day a few weeks ago. The day I made this sketch the sun was so bright and there was so much glare I couldn't see what I was doing so taking a photograph proved impossible. I've realised that it is as hard work to draw in harsh sunlight as it is to work in rain and wind so I was quite pleased to have been able to continue as long as I did and still produce a recognisable composition.

This is same footbridge linking the canal to Roach Road that I drew a few weeks ago

Candle wax resist

The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the distance

Since my previous drawing ended up being so dark I thought I would try to take this sketch a stage further and make it even more dark. I like the idea of a sketch which is almost entirely black but it would have to make some kind of visual sense. I did this in my previous sketching project and really liked the result.

Some more canal-side art

I had also decided to try using candle wax as a resist to the Indian ink. I didn't take the trouble to try this out at home in my sketchbook before I left the house so I had to experiment as I went along. I found that if the Indian ink was diluted enough the resist worked well and produced some interesting results. If the ink was straight out of the bottle and very black the wax resist was so subtle it was practically invisible.

When I began this series I thought I would be making conventional drawings but as the sketches are stacking up it seems I am venturing into painting. I have been using, amongst other things, a half inch decorating brush which has loosened up my approach. I'm also enjoying using Indian ink which I have learned was being produced in China as early as the middle of the 3rd millennium BC although the source of the materials to make the carbon pigment was later often traded from India, hence its name.

Beyond the bridge

The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the distance

The vista beyond the bridge begins to broaden to the left and the right hinting at the wide expanse of water where the Hertford Union canal joins the River Lee Navigation. When I chose this spot to work in I imagined I would be concentrating on the view you can see above but I found it rather dull and it didn't grab me.

So I started looking around and my attention was drawn to this boat on my right. I began this sketch by describing the boat as a line drawing having no idea which direction it was going in. I often find that the emerging drawing seems to know where it wants to go and all I have to do is follow along behind.

My labours were accompanied by the lively sounds of some small children yelling at each other in one of the nearby flats. Sometimes their yelling would abate and then would crank up again until they were yelled at by an adult and meanwhile I just kept adding tones and marks until I had practically covered the paper and then I run out of steam.

The fascination of gabions

The word gabion comes from the Italian word gabbione meaning 'big cage'. Gabions can be cages, cylinders or boxes filled with rocks or concrete and are typically used in large-scale construction projects like civil engineering, road building and landscaping. They are also becoming increasingly popular as structures in domestic gardens.

I could see this ceramic sculpture from
where I was sitting. There are quite a few
of them along dotted along the canal

So I was strolling along the tow path looking this way and that and then these gabions caught my eye. They are supporting the bridge that was the subject of a previous drawing. I had in mind that I would try and draw the rocks, the metal cage as well as the leaves and produce something that would be very representational. I was to discover that I had set myself quite an ambitious task and became sidetracked into something rather more painterly and achievable.

I set up my sketching stool on the grass verge by the side of the wall to avoid being run over by cyclists, joggers and dog walkers and got stuck in. I can confirm that those leaves on the left hand side of the photo above are stinging nettles and it wasn't a great idea to brush my hands over them (I couldn't see any dock leaves nearby to rub on my hands to take the sting away).

It was a breezy day so I had to contend with paper flapping around and art materials flying away. There was regular foot traffic going back and forth over the bridge and I was surprised how clearly people's voices carried. I met my friend the car mechanic walking his boss's dog. He took a good look at what I was doing and was very encouraging. Then he said 'I expect you'll work that up more when you get home' and I realised that I wouldn't do that because once I've left my location I've lost my frame of reference. So I've realised that feeling the sun on my skin, or the breeze that blew my water bottle away and the sounds I'm listening to are as important as the sights I can see while I'm working.

Here's the finished sketch

Sheltering under a canopy of leaves

The drawing of the canopy with the real branches in shadow adding an extra dimension to the scene

A fairly dull view ahead of me...

 Since I began this series of drawings I have been progressing my way along the tow path from Wick Lane towards White Post Lane. For this drawing I doubled back on myself and sat on the same bench that I used to make my first sketch. This time I faced the canal instead of having my back to it and looked up at the canopy of leaves above me instead of looking straight ahead.

I started in the same spirit as the previous drawing where I tried to let the line wander where it wanted to go. I began the drawing without looking at the paper, only at the view, but discovered I didn't have the confidence to complete the whole drawing doing that because I wanted the finished result to look a bit like the view I had. I might try that approach again later in the series just to see what happens.

... but look what I saw at my feet, a scene full of possibilities

Working with soluble pencils

I toyed with this view of the pedestrian bridge which was one view from where I was sitting

I always like to have a selection of materials to work with because I never know in advance what I might want to respond to and how I might want to work. Today's sketch is a good example of this. I've been using pen and ink for the last few drawings but today I started with charcoal and then moved onto soluble pencil.

I liked this view too and might tackle it later

I considered the view of the bridge above and then the weeds under the stairs but neither of those views quite worked. I looked straight ahead and decided that the boats were just right so do you know what, I drew the path to the right of them instead!

I have the clumsy habit of tipping water or ink all over my paper while I'm working. When that happens I just incorporate it into the drawing and keep going. Fortunately it is a warm day today and the paper dried quickly.

The view I thought I was going to draw

There were a lot of dog walkers around today and one young woman was walking with about six dogs of all shapes, sizes and ages so I assumed she was doing this for her job. The Guardian newspaper ran an interesting article on this subject just a few days ago and while the idea sounds appealing I don't think I would have the patience to chivvy my charges along the tow path exhorting them to 'get a move on!', 'this way!' and 'Fido there's nothing wrong with your leg and you can run!' as I heard today. This episode did cause me and a passer-by to share a laugh.

So here's the finished piece using a different approach

I like to try and be experimental with my approach to 'making marks' when I am sketching because that way I can avoid repeating the same technique over and over again. I quite expect to employ a different method for the next sketch but that's a job for next week.

The adventure continues

You can just see the green boat in the distance where I sat for this drawing

I walked past the wall of graffiti for this sketch and set my stool up near the green boat you can see in the distance. I settled on a view of a boat with lots of interesting stuff stored on the roof that was in front of a warehouse that, in turn, had horizontal and verticals lines on the siding which also took my fancy.

Lunch break

I had barely got started on this task when a nice man engaged me in conversation and we spent quite a long time setting the world to rights. Then I found out he lived on the very boat that was the subject of my drawing. He clearly has a penchant for push bikes because in addition to the ones I could see stored on the roof of the boat he had another one he used when he cycled off on some errand after we had finished our conversation.

As I was wrestling with all the competing stuff on the roof another man stopped by to say hello. We had chatted a few days before and he told me that he's a mechanic and the dog he was walking belongs to his boss. This poor mutt spends his days stuck in the machine shop and only gets to go out when his owner's employee takes him out during his lunch hour so the dog was understandably quite excitable. Earlier on another passer-by showed an interest in my drawing but I didn't have much to show him at that point. I feel I am becoming part of the canal landscape now I'm beginning to get to know people while I am at the same time also responding to it which makes me feel slightly uneasy but I expect I'll get used to it.

Here's the finished drawing leaning against the tree trunk in the foreground

The view from Wansbeck Road

The scene behind me with the A12 in the distance

I've walked along Wansbeck Road quite a lot recently to and from Hackney Wick station and I keep seeing a view of the canal I wanted to record on paper. The weather has been very variable lately but late last Monday afternoon the sun came out and I decided if I wanted to get any drawing done that day it was now or never. So I walked up to Wansbeck Road where it crosses the Hertford Union Canal and set up my pad of paper and used the railings to lean on.

While it was very sunny it was also remarkably windy. My trolley blew away from me at least once. My eyes were watering so much I couldn't see what I was doing but I was determined to complete this drawing in charcoal and here it is for you to see photographed lying on the pavement before it had the chance to blow away.

There were two boats travelling through the lock gates while I was working on this

Paving and mud

My view from where I was sitting looking towards the middle lock

When I was a little girl I used to like playing in the back garden making what I called mud pies. I would take soil from a flower bed, dump it into a tin washing-up bowl, tip loads of water on it and then mix it up into a lovely mess. When I finished that I would pour it all over my Dad's crazy paving patio that he had painstakingly created from a job-lot of broken paving stones that had been delivered by the council. To be honest it was more like gravy than pie.

My interest in mud survives to this day and this became the focus of this drawing. The mud won out over three other possible contenders which were: the foliage near the middle lock, two narrow boats next to each other and the lock gates of the bottom lock. The day I drew this we had sun all day: it was glorious and so it meant I had to be content to study dry mud as all the puddles had dried up.

I chose to sit near to my friend the disembodied head for this drawing. To digress for a moment body parts are not unknown in the canals around London. A few years ago a man murdered his sister not far from where we live and distributed parts of her body around the canal system and they were turning up for months and only last week the body of a woman was found in the Grand Union canal in a suitcase. I can't imagine why murderers think that disposing of their handiwork in a canal is a good idea.

From where I was sitting I could see this interesting structure. It appears to be a raft with tarpaulins stretched over it. I was sitting there long enough to notice that there was smoke coming out of the little chimney on the top and it made me wonder who was in there and what they were doing there – maybe it is someone's home?

When I finally settled down to observing the mud and paving stones I realised I enjoyed looking at the contrast between the lines on the paving stones and the random arrangement of the twigs, dried leaves, stones and the lumps and bumps of the mud so this drawing is a response to that. I tried to describe some of the patterns in the mud by applying Indian ink through the sort of mesh bag that you get vegetables in from the supermarket. It worked well when I tried it out at home on paper with a different surface to this one. It worked less well on this occasion 'out in the field'.

Catching the blossom before it fades

The broken red rule marks my route between Wick Lane and White Post Lane

I've completed my first drawing. I'm letting this series of drawings take as long as they like to complete which is going to test my patience. I did this one in about 3.5 hours over five sessions. The weather varied over the five days from windy to hot. On the hot day I ate a picnic lunch at the bench where I was working and three people said hello to me as they walked by which I thought was amazing. Two people had the courage to approach me to see what I was doing and have a chat.

When I'm concentrating on drawing I become more aware of sounds around me and on the first day I was bombarded with an whirring engine close by, birds tweeting, traffic humming and police sirens off in the distance topped off with a whiff of diesel fumes. When it was windy I had to deal with paper flying around and when it was sunny my eyes watered and my nose ran. These are some of the joys of working outside.

I have been observing the blossom developing over the last few weeks and was keen to concentrate on some of that for my first drawing before it all disappears. I was glad to find that I hadn't left it too late to spend time scrutinising some of it and here are the results.