cmoorelife

Posts tagged ‘sketching’

My Edinburgh top 5 views

By

Number 1 –  Arthurs Seat

Arthurs Seat was damp and so was mine, after sitting in a puddle sketching this.

Dunsapie Loch and Portobello. It may look peaceful, but Arthurs Seat behind me was so busy there was even a busker entertaining the crowds.

Number 2 – Calton Hill

Evening view from Calton Hill

Calton Hill from near St Anthony’s Chapel ruins

Calton Hill from the Iron Duke

Number 3 – Waterstones Cafe Princes street

In Waterstones, I looked on with envy at the people languishing in the premium, bay window tables. Still, I did manage to wedge myself between a smaller window, the staircase and a discretely placed rodent trap to sketch the castle.

That view was wasted on him

Edinburgh castle

Wedged in the window sill

Number 4 – National Museum of Scotland

Great museum with loads to see, including the Millenium clock. When it strikes the hour, Bach blares through hidden speakers and this 20th Century dedication to human suffering becomes a strange technicolour, rotating beast. 

Edinburgh university from the roof

The Millennium clock – when death started swinging gleefully on the pendulum, I just had to sketch it!

Number 5 – The Royal Mile

Sunny and *not* raining at the same time

Bonus view

The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art ‘2’, currently showing the ‘True to life’ exhibition. Well worth a visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All images © Claire Moore and cmoorelife, 2017

2 Comments

Why bother with Whitstable?

By

Whitstable Old Neptune

The Old Neptune pub, Whitstable

Why? Because it’s the finest place on the North Kent coast. Although, I will admit it’s the only place I’ve ever been to on the North Kent coast.

When I set out with the intention of sketching in Broadstairs, somewhere on the M2 I fell into a deep trance. I heard a ghostly rattle of oyster shells, the distant creek of beach hut doors, then a faint aroma of dead fish, and knew… Broadstairs would have to wait.

Whitstable oysters

Mounds of empty Oyster shells rise out of the mist. Known as cultch, they are put back in the estuary, providing an ideal surface for the baby oysters to attach themselves to, helping to form new oyster reefs.

I last visited Whitstable about 10 years ago, arriving in a sleepy little fishing town and waking up to the mania of the Whitstable Oyster festival. The town has lots of hidden nooks and crannies, and some of the best bits are easy to miss, so use a map.

The sea looked so inviting on that trip, so I bought a hideous yellow speedo swimming costume from a bargain bin, only to find that the sea was ankle deep, even half a mile out.

Whitstable beach

Whitstable. Bring your own swimwear.

2015-04-13 Whitstable acrylic

The cement factory. Something completely different. With beach huts.

To learn more about Whitstable, read Sarah Waters’ novel ‘Tipping the Velvet,’ there’s only a brief mention, but you may learn something new.

The Oyster festival is on between 25th and 31st July 2015.

Leave a comment

The colour of fear

By

Porthminster beach

Porthminster beach, St Ives

St Ives Harbour

St Ives Harbour – pen and ink

Be warned that there is a dark underworld of gull-gangs hanging out in St Ives.

 

They swig bootleg cider and place bets on whether tourist scalp has more protein than Cornish pasty. Then feed endlessly off both between 12 and 2pm every day.

My advice is NEVER sketch near someone eating a Cornish pasty in St Ives. Not unless you have a bucket and several heavy duty wet-wipes to clear up the mess. I know from experience.

Seagull attack St Ives

So ferocious they mess with your brain

The intense lightning storms over the UK this week started here in the South West.

I would have loved to sketch them, but it’s hard to mix up a good ivory black when you are cowering behind the sofa!

St Ives Harbour

St Ives Harbour

 

After all that drama, you might think those vivid colours were a result of adrenaline rush, but the light here is truly something else. Even a grim misty morning blazes with an eerie quality.

The Island St Ives

“The Island” from Barnoon cemetery

It’s not surprising that this landscape inspired an art movement.

I took a trip to Barnoon cemetery to find fisherman and self taught painter Alfred Wallis.

His grave is beautifully tiled by Bernard Leach. I was moved by this tribute to a man whose honest paintings, with their wacky perspective, inspired the early St Ives artists.

Lifeboat station St Ives

Pencil in the mizzle

St Ives harbour

The morning after the storms

 

1 Comment

London not by the sea

By

Greenwich Park, LondonI finally got to see the Turner by the sea exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich this weekend. It’s great to see such an amazing body of work in one place. I recommend getting the audio tour for some added context.

As well as more familiar paintings, you get to see some of Turner’s sketchbooks and unfinished works.

Tate modern, LondonI was so inspired, I had to immediately walk to the Royal Observatory and do a double page spread of Greenwich Park!

With that out of my system there was time for a quick stop at the Tate modern to sketch the silver birch trees before it got too dark.

1 Comment