Friday
Arriving in the capital for Urban Sketchers London's big anniversary weekend starting with a meet up along the south bank - meeting old friends and new. I managed to get a sketch completed of one of my favourite wharf side buildings, Oxo Tower, before we met up for a drink and ventured off to find my student halls accommodation for the weekend.
Saturday
I had arranged to help out at the morning at the Barbican sketch crawl and had decided not to draw. It was actually a great chance to walk around and talk to the sketchers and take a photographic record of the morning - interestingly I found not sketching to be quite liberating!!
Afterwards I walked across the city to Battersea finding a nice vista of the rapidly changing Nine Elms quarter, before a return to the South Bank for food and beers with all the sketchers - such a really great turn-out!
Sunday
After checking out of my exceedingly hot accommodation, I walked down to the 'Houses of Parliament' sketch crawl which was actually based on the south bank adjacent to St Thomas' Hospital. I had never drawn this iconic building before and I managed to find a perch amongst the crowds of people enjoying a summer Sunday by the river. I continued today to use my favourite Muji ball pen - I love the delicacy that can be achieved with a ball pen - it is becoming one of my favourite mediums.
Then after lunch, the big climax of the weekend was a sketch crawl around St Pauls Cathedral - ironically the focus of my skyline sketch which had been chosen as the cover to the brilliant book that had been produced to celebrate the first ten years of USk London.
A final chance to get together and celebrate this amazing sketching weekend in one of the world's most iconic cities.
