Am I... in London, again??

So through some genius planning skills, I somehow ended up exactly where I left off last time...which is London. Unfortunately I only had 4 pages left on my previous sketchbook and it would be space inefficient if I bring 2 on the road, so I just started a new one, feeling rather guilty. (I honestly have no idea how I'm gonna fill the last 4 pages...given there is nothing of value to sketch around where I live)

 

-British Museum- 

I didn't expect much from British Museum's Great Court, since I'm usually an exterior-only sketcher. But I dunno, this place kind of blurred the line between inside and outside. I read that the Museum forbids wet media inside the galleries, so I just found myself a spot on the spiral staircase (I think I would have done the Benin bronzes otherwise) Loads of people were sitting on the ground, on the stairs, basically everywhere, so nobody really paid any attention to me. A lady with a hard shelled briefcase stopped to chat, so I thought she probably works in the museum. And then she asked me how one could get into the galleries...ooops

-King's College, Cambridge-

Not exactly in London, but I kind of squeezed in a quick sketch while we were waiting for lunch. It felt like it is going to rain, so I was really rushed. The restaurant staff was even nice enough to come out to tell me that food is ready (while I totally underestimated how fast they prepared the food) We attended the evening chapel service to check out the famous chapel without paying (we did end of standing 70% of the time though) and the sun came out in the end! It was pretty great except visitors are not allowed to linger during exam time...so a missed opportunity

-London Sketching Day 1-

 

I think this must the best of my St Paul's attempt so far! The shape of the dome is finally somewhat making sense! When I was there a French tour group stopped dead in front of me, and a little French girl promptly latched onto me, despite pleading from parents to not disturb me. I ignored her throughout (an artist must concentrate!), but we did say bye to each other when the group left. 

I took a break later at St. Bart the Great and almost crashed a wedding (??) Anyway so I was just sitting there minding my own business, and then I heard some exaggerated small talk in posh English. Whatever, I filter these out automatically and concentrate on counting my arches. But the small talk continued and somewhat multiplied (?) Finally I was curious enough to see who exactly were talking...they were very nicely dressed people like suits, nice dresses, definitely not how people would randomly dress. Then it finally clicked and I realized either a wedding or a wedding reception is about to begin in this church. (throughout this time the choir was also rehearsing) I looked around and there were no other tourists in sight. So I quickly packed up my things, ducked my head and bolted out of the church (on my way out, I saw another finely dressed couple walking in, the lady wearing the most outrageous hat that I've only seen on the news)

A couple more London classics. Found a few construction workers in full relaxation mode. I was pretty shocked when I saw that the mayor's office is getting dismantled, apparently they are moving to another location with lower rent and the current building is getting a redesign.

 

The view is technically better on the Tower of London side (where the sun hits the bridge), but it was way quieter here. I guess I have done this view a few times already, but this is definitely the first time with the bridge opened! (a boat with huge sails was passing through)

-London Sketching Day 2-

 

On the 2nd day I attempted 2 places I haven't done yet, sort of. I have sketched Westminster across the river before, and also in silhouette. The crowd in front of the Big Ben was huge, but luckily I found a traffic island in the middle of the road where tourists don't usually linger. I could lean against the fence on one side because there was no view of importance behind me, and tourists can still take pictures in front of me. (I reassured 2 couples they're not blocking me at all. They were taking some time in front of me, getting balloons ready for a milestone birthday I think) I didn't quiiiite capture the shape of the clock tower, but happy with the overall result, in a super chaotic environment.

Technically I have done Piccadilly Circus before, but never the iconic view of the fountain and the billboards behind it. I drew the figure way too big so had to scale down the fountain itself many folds to fit in the entire scene. Probably the most chaotic place I've ever done a sketch in, right up there with Rialto Bridge. Luckily I found a little place to sit at the underground exit, so I wasn't in the way of other people (except when they needed to read the map next to me) After this I already felt both my social and artistic battery drained

 

No Sun...No Problem! - London

The opportunity presented itself that I had a chance to stopover in London for a weekend. Between sleeping off a jetlag comfortably through a weekend in the US or starting a work week the night after getting off a transcontinental flight, I choose the latter every time. This also means I get to spend a true full weekend in London, flying in and out on workdays (I already sacrificed a Sunday on my way in, so I feel fully justified in burning a Monday traveling)

 

I basically sleepwalked my way from the plane to Elizabeth line, then again from the train to the hotel, because everything has been done more than once before. It was pretty surreal crashing in the tiny but (in my opinion) perfectly laid out room in London. From a remote village in Southwest Germany to the biggest metropolis in Europe, that's what I call a proper commute. (I got to FRA way way too early, after mistaking the boarding time as departure time, even after the disaster logistics that is to get to FRA terminal 2 non schengen departure) Everything after getting to London was peak efficiency, meanwhile FRA only had 1 guy doing all EU passports on a Friday night! while 30 people queued behind me.

 

Day 1

After having a proper full breakfast with an overly sweet Chai, I headed to what I didn't get to do last time, One New Change's roof terrace. The terrace was impressive, also impressive that they had 2 people watch the crowds at all time. I thought they're gonna say something to me about open water jar or whatever, but they left me alone. When I was almost done, a group of maybe 20 school kids roared in. I think they are from some Eastern European nation, but their guide spoke English. While their guide dismissed the kids to "take selfies for Instagram or whatever", 3 girls approached me and asked if I was doing "aquelle", which I guess is every non-English term for watercolour. And yes, of course teenage girls are more observant than their male counterpart, whom I noticed barely paid attention to the guide's speech.

 

I got a feeling that my St Paul's is not chubby enough, so I decided to do another one from Watling Street. Situating myself in front of an alley way to what I thought is just a barber shop (I think it is actually some sort of apartment or AirBnB, because quite some people filed out when I was standing there) My policy is to not block the sidewalk unless I really have to, so I just poke my head out when I need to see more. (Probably a good choice, because foot traffic definitely picked up while I was there) I also got to hear some free explanation when tour groups passed by. One guide mentioned that Watling Street is the last remaining section of a Roman road that used to go to Wales, and that Sir Christopher Wren built the pub (green) first before starting on St Paul's so that the workers have a place to eat. 

Then I stopped by Guildhall and checked out the Roman Amphitheatre that I definitely did not know about when I visited last time. Because it was getting cold and I was getting hungry, I decided to skip Guildhall for another time. After a late lunch I did Spitalfield Market before the sun went down

 

Day 2

 My favourite store's Brick Lane location was temporarily closed, so I had to head to the West End to finish my shopping. Then I thought why not and did a freer rendition of Trafalgar Square, while standing next to the Canadian mission. The square was busy, but there was almost no one on this side of the street. Honestly I have no idea why I kept on getting St Paul's wrong and had no trouble with Trafalgar Square.

Case and point, I could never get St Paul's to work. This is probably the worst and most vexing of all my drawings this trip

After deciding I cannot end my trip on a low point, I gave myself some warm food and headed back over to Guildhall. It was as damp and cold as yesterday, but with my stomach filled, I sat down comfortably on one of the many fixed benches provided and leisurely finished this very satisfying rendition. Probably my favourite one on this trip!

 

Overhearing Gossips is Part of the Charm - London

I hopped over to London during the Easter weekend. The weather coorperated and never rained more than a few drops. I even enjoyed some decent hours of sun!

This time I chose to stay in Brick Lane, instead of my usual Soho hotel. I noticed that I kept coming here anyways to eat and shop, so might as well just save myself some time and stay. After grabbing some late lunch at my usual noodles/bun joint (which has increase from 1 to 3 stores since I started eating there), I started my new sketchbook with a view onto "The Golden Heart" (originally built for Truman's Brewery), with Christ Church Spitalfield peeking out in the back.

After checking in and dropping off my heavier bag, I did some last minute research while sipping on tea before setting out again into the city. By this time heavy cloud started gathering and some drops started coming down. Thankfully London has plenty of spots with overhead covers. Because it was Good Friday, I also had no trouble finding a place (closed shop fronts) to stand along the busy street in front of Liverpool Street Station. I thought my spot was inconspicuous enough, but several ppl noticed me and stopped to have a quick chat, including a guy with a bunch of Tesco bags, and a mom and daughter who asked where I got my supplies (I don't know London art supply shops so I wasn't able to give any more concrete answer other than "most art shops should carry those. You just need to look for them")

The last one of the day was the medieval church St Helen's Bishopsgate, which now finds the Gherkin as its backdrop. It really felt like a time warp/surreal corner amongst all the steel and concrete. The nearby office building had some convenient bollards with *wide and flat* tops, which was perfect for my purpose. The security staff in the building also paid me zero attention. I really ate too much for lunch, and by this time my stomach is really starting to feel interesting. The 3-hr movie session afterwards really helped with digestion!

Day 2

I started the next day late and lazy at Leadenhall Market. There were construction ongoing all around the market, plus there was some open market action happening inside, so my choice of sketching area was limited. Thankfully I found another closed shop front (thank you bank holiday) with a big enough window sill to put my jar on. I couldn't see the inner structure of the market, but I could see the exquisite front, Lloyd's building, and the cheese grater in the back. A lot of Spanish-speaking tour groups were filing through and I understood nothing except the words "Harry Potter". Just as I was wrapping up, the sun came out and casted a beautiful shadow.

With the sun now high in the sky, I had an unexpectly hot and dry session at Bank Junction. It was difficult to choose exactly which side I should draw, but in the end I decided the Bank of England + Royal Exchange side has more interesting shadow, plus there was a convenient pedestrian crossing button that was at exactly the right place I needed it to be. I started when the Royal Exchange was completely in the shadow, then the sun came over the columns from the right in no time! The 2 sides looked disconnected at first, but as soon as I added the Wellington statue in, it somehow all came together! This time too a guy jogging (I think) came up and asked if I was using watercolour and if I ever used pen/ink (I told him this way is faster than pen)

By this time I was starving, but I also don't know how long the sun is going to last. So I decided to push for a last one of St Paul's. Unfortunately my original planned spot on One New Change's public terrace was closed for the public (unless you eat at the posh restaurant), so I had to settle for a more conventional view. I'm still not 100% satisfied with St. Paul's

After some much needed lunch and tea break, I set out again in late afternoon and walked across the Thames. There were some nice benches along the river so I decided to give St Paul's another try. I vastly decreased the distance between the cathedral and Southwark Bridge because the skyline isn't too interesting between them. Alas, I'm still not 100% happy with this attempt either... I was almost going to do another one from Blackfriar's Thameslink platform (definitely the station with the best view), but I stopped myself in time.

Since I'm on Thameslink platform anyways I thought, might as well go up to St Pancras. For some reason, I've never drawn this station before (I also wonder why). I was going to walk towards the front entrance for a grander view, but the view from the back entrance (Midland Rd) was really too nice to pass up (and I'm an opportunist) so I decided to just start sketching. Turns out that not only is this street relatively quiet and free of traffic, it is also the prime lunch/cigarette break location for station/hotel staff. More than 3 groups were out when I was there. One group consisted of a chatty Italian lady who gave out a constant stream of work and personal gossips to her more reticent male colleague and broke into Italian phrases when excited. I felt like I experienced a more authentic slice of Italian life than being in most Italian tourist cities.

Maybe next time I will do the actual famous clock tower of St Pancras

Then I wondered up to Regent's Canal. This part of the canal seemd to be completely renovated and there wasn't any interesting old buildings, so I just picked a place with some boats and focused on the water itself. Just as the sun was disappearing, a nice older couple stopped by to chat and noticed my tote bag. They told me they've also been to Granville Island, but probably before I was born. They complimented Vancouver and I told them "There is no job there, other than that it's pretty good" with a huge smile. They seemed to enjoy this comment very much and asked "is that why you're here?"

Day 3

Nothing to write home much about Canary Wharf, I was never a good steel n concrete sketcher (and never intend to be!) But as I was doing this one at Eden Dock after eating at Din Tai Fung, 2 young people sat down in front of me. The guy had a take out lunch, while the lady wasn't eating anything. Their conversation was far more interesting than the scenery I was sketching. I really couldn't pinpoint their relationship in the 10 minutes they chatted in front of me. If they were colleagues, they never brought up any work topic. If friends, why isn't the lady eating, or why aren't they eating at a restaurant?? In the beginning the lady was asking if she can take a picture of the guy's lunch. (I was so confused) Then they talked about which area they each plans to settle. And at one point, the lady said she had a huge row with her dad the previous week after he accused her of keeping money away from his new family, and she said "and I told him thank you for cheating on mom for 20 years". All through this the guy seemed to be more interested in his lunch

 

Cause for Panic - London

Nothing predicted the chaos that would follow on this bright sunny Monday morning in London. What a nice morning to stroll and sketch around before my afternoon flight! so I thought. Nope! Just as I was settling in to work on All Hallows-by-the-Tower (its spire was tentalizingly visible through my hotel window for 3 days) by borrowing a not-yet-open BBQ restaurant's storefront, my phone buzzed. My 2pm flight, it reads, has been delayed to 1:00. Has there been a mistake? How could there be a delay of -1 hour? Then it dawned on me that the flight is actually delayed from 2PM to 1AM. At this point, I decided to put my paint brush down on the palette and switched to 2-hand operation. 15 mins later, the intel of UK-wide ATC failure was obtained and a refundable back up flight for 7PM was swiftly booked. Cool, now I can refocus on this beautiful church!

Since my original flight was delayed and the backup flight is not until 7PM, I strolled aimlessly along the Thames until I spotted this perfect spot. Just off a promenade deck, away from the flow of people, and plenty of space. The Tower Bridge was in maintenance during the bank holiday long weekend, so you could see that the bridge was still lifted in the previous sketch (has been for a whole weekend). By this time, they finally lowered it. The rounded green bulbous is the city hall. I uhm...did not do it justice. Just as I started walking away from the spot and contemplating which view I should do St Pauls, my phone buzzed again. The delayed departure of 1AM has been re-adjusted to just 30 mins after the original time. Great! I thought! They must have fixed the problem, and so I picked up my pace and headed towards London Bridge.

You find me 1 day later still stuck in London. In the end, both flights were cancelled (thankfully early enough in the day that I could still find a decent hotel and have dinner at a reasonable time) Since I had zero work equipment with me and my new flight was not until 3pm, I decided to continue my stroll & sketch. I saw an excellent panorama somebody did of Trafalgar Square and decided to do it too. Uhm...turns out Nelson's column is a little taller than I expected...plus the National Gallery was half in construction. But still, it was not raining and I count that as a win!

This time I finally found the right door to access Temple Church (and it was indeed open!) This is the 3rd London church interior I did (not sure if I'm getting better or worse at it ooops) My phone was buzzing intermittently throughout the sketch, telling me my new flight is now 10mins delayed, then 20 mins delayed, 40, 50...I appeared calm, but I was definitely panicking at this point.

I ended up spending a little too long doing the interior (and panicking), so instead of having lunch at DTF Selfridge, I decided to stay and paint the exterior of Temple Church and then head to the airport directly. It was a quiet courtyard with some people enjoying their lunch break

Thankfully my flight departed only 90 mins later than scheduled

13 years apart: in London

 It felt surreal to be in London again. The last I visited was in 2008 (confirmed after digging through my email correspondences) with mom. And because it was before the age of smartphones and googlemaps, I have almost no digital trace of that visit. No photos, no bookmarked locations. But again, everything seemed a little familiar, and deja vu's came back from time to time as I strolled around town. 

I do remember distinctively that we stayed in a hotel near St. James' Park, and that we ate fish and chips for dinner almost everyday. I honestly had no idea why we chose to stay there, the location this time in Piccadilly Circus was much more convenient. 

It was nearing Christmas, so the "christmas market" and the menorah was out in front of the National Gallery. And of course I had to include the lions! The winter morning light was spectacular.

Followed by a bit of a chaotic sketch of Piccadilly Circus itself. I think I was standing next to a Five Guys...

Golden Jubilee Bridge (view from South Bank). There was some space behind the elevator shaft that kept me out of pedestrian traffic.

I did the essential tourist stroll past London Eye and Westminster Bridge. The sunset was very intense and thankfully I was able to find myself a spot amongst the tourists jostling for photos

TfL Museum

Sunset at Tower Bridge