Drawing Outside

I very rarely draw outside.  It is a question of attitude, commitment and also medium.  I like using oil 
paint best which means an expedition to paint outside is a real endeavour and requires much time and planning .

I have of course sketched or drawn outside but only as an adjunct to another activity.  For the first 
time recently I went outside solely for the purposes of painting and drawing. I have just joined the Law Society Art Group.  They organise occasional trips and one of these was to the south bank in London to draw and paint, well whatever you like. What I like is the blocky modernism of the City of London School on the far back with the awesome  dome of St Paul’s towering over it, so that is what I chose to draw. 

It is strange drawing outside,  particularly in such a public space.  I initially felt quite self-conscious.  There is an undoubted performance element to it as passers by, who gradually increased in number as the day progressed, stopped to gawk (and if below the age of 12, openly comment). 

This then generates a special kind of concentration.  After  a while the world falls away and all that 
remains is what you are trying to draw.  There are other sensations though, the weather and the sun 

all of which through the mood they evoke have an effect on what you produce. I produced two works,  a pencil sketch (above left) and a water colour.  I find watercolour difficult and counter intuitive.  I apply too much and to heavily.  In this piece I became to obsessed with trying to replicate the sparkling muddy ooze which is the Thames in central London which became too muddied and dominated the picture  The other difficulty is of course the light and shadows shift throughout the day and what was in stark sunlight in the morning is sheathed in shadow after lunch.  

Still I enjoyed it and would probably do it again. It provokes a special kind of calm which particularly in nice conditions is most endearing.

The Law Society Art Group incidentally is having an exhibition at the Law Society on Chancery Lane 
on 12th-22nd January 2016 and I shall be exhibiting.