The London Layover

One of our options for traveling to our workshop in Oxford was to fly to London, and catch a coach from there.  It had been a few years since visiting London, so Patti and I tacked a few days onto the itinerary to revisit a few of the city's many high points, from storied architecture to thriving people places to pubs full of football fans cheering England into the semi-finals of the World Cup.  Here are a few sketches from our walks through the city.  Almost all were drawn in a Moleskine A4 Watercolor Album with a combination of a PITT Artist Pen (F) with sepia ink for very fine lines, and a fude nib Sailor fountain pen with brown DeAtrimentis Archive ink for shadows and heavier accents.  I'll likely return to add watercolor to a few more in the coming days.  Thanks for checking in...
-Jim

I'm irresistibly attracted to busy, almost chaotic street scenes anchored by iconic architecture, juxtaposing old with new.

The sculpture atop the dome at left compelled me to draw this scene.

Some of the double-page spreads were filled out with visual notes of whatever caught our interest.

Many details begged to be drawn as we walked through Old London.

I wanted to capture the Tower Bridge in context, with the pedestrian promenade and working boats on the river..

Piccadilly Circus, always crowded with those wishing to see and be seen.  This one had been on my "must draw" list for years.

Had to capture this one quickly, before the scene was gone!

I love how this one turned out, rapidly sketched standing up with the PITT fine line pen as a crowd watched.

Trafalgar Square is massive and not easy to capture; this viewpoint conveyed the energy I felt there.