Posts Tagged: london

Sketchbook 66

August to October 2021

A sketch of Broughton Street in Edinburgh, drawn with HTA Sketchclub. We started sketchclub about ten years ago as a response to people in the office wanting to improve their drawing skills. I realised how much I enjoyed drawing and that I hadn’t done much observational drawing since school. I’d done plenty of drawing with work, but it was generally drawing to explain an idea or to show what a place that didn’t exist might be like. Observational drawing is different. You need to understand what you are looking at for one thing. What is the spacing of those windows? How many are there? How does that chimney meet the roof apex? That sort of thing. And the action of looking and thinking makes you wonder what a space like this is for and how it might be better used. Covid restrictions have reclaimed some of the space for people but how could this be developed to make a better space here?
Sketchclub in London
Two sketches from HTA Sketchclub in London. This is our new street on the edge of a park for Pocket Living. If you draw what other people made you don’t have the complete picture of the process that led to it. Here we can look at what we made and discuss it with the team who spent years making it happen.
Looking at the world with work. This time a tour led by Lisa Williams exploring the black history behind some of Edinburgh’s familiar landmarks.
Basil Spence’s Sunderland Civic Centre. It’s an interesting building, with a rigorous geometric logic driven through the design from the organisational diagram to the floor tiles beneath your feet. Sunderland City Centre is moving North, taking up the space left by the industries that once lined the River Wear. The council are a key part of this change, and they have left here and moved to a new Civic Centre near the river.
How the basic clay tile makes a pattern that reflects the building plan. The slight difference in tone of each tile is beautiful in combination.
Top left is the building plan. I tried to draw the tiered steps/ ramp accurately, to try to understand it better. Next to the central column a man is making a plein air oil painting of the building.
I’m here for a consultation event on what might happen once the building is demolished. There’s some debate about that but not really any about the demolition principle which has been agreed locally for years, so people want to know what’s happening next.
The Edinburgh office went to see Laura Mvula at the Festival (there’ a limited Festival).
Home stuff: Scout Camp at Fordell Firs.
Scout camp fire.
Innes’s football tournament at Wardie.
Holiday in London. In Kev & Pam’s cool back garden.
We swapped houses with Rory.
It was a good arrangement for a Covid summer: make your own plans and keep it simple.
One of Rory’s lovely old cameras. I do drawings like this to try to capture the precision but my lines aren’t crisp enough to do the objects justice.
In London we walked a lot.
Off to Stamford Bridge, for a tour.
Waiting for a football match to finish in Queensferry.
A very little little bit of Stirling Castle. We are working with the MOD just now so I’m paying close attention.
Ruari back from Germany. It’s lovely to see him after Lockdown separation.
Tube passengers.
Isla waiting for a consultation.

Sketchbook 65

Second Lockdown and thereafter

We had another lockdown. I drew less than at any point in the previous nine years. I’ve included a few of them further down, for completeness, but I lost the habit really. I just worked. I got back into it when we were allowed out. This is a key worker on the tube.
A temporary Covid Test Centre, a feature of many community car parks.
And of course, vaccine roll out. This is my first. Alongside our lockdown dog.
Meeting people in gardens. This is father in law Michael.
And again.
My mum.
When we were locked down, I tried to draw the local place, the highlight was this church on our High Street.
Local bins, marginally less interesting than…
…than a local bridge. (It is quite interesting actually, clearly two bridges which you’d never realise from above.)
On the positive side, here’s Craig’s first day back at work cooking lunch. 28th April 2021.
The first work trip to see a site in York. Handy for meeting the London team, who we haven’t seen for months.
The May board meeting, the first of the year to be held in person.
Hotel view.
Running into interesting looking people as we travel again.
Me.
I’ve learned some things from Lockdown. One is how much I enjoy a cycle into work and the other is you can attend presentations anywhere. I now pass these cottages everyday so I stopped to draw them, while listening to one of our Friday morning masterclasses.
Otherwise, life is similar to how it was. Saturday and Sunday mornings involve football. This is Lochend’s scenic pitch.
Jac’s H Type Citreon in Victoria Park. Supplier of coffee to many locals and the parents watching Spartans across the road.
More classic French design, and my attempt to render some shadows.
After football: Fraser on the couch playing XBox.
Julie on the couch texting. This is one of the lonely lockdown sketches. It’s from February. I think I only drew two drawings that month, when normally there might be ten.
Isla feeling ill on the sofa, in January.
The only other January drawing.
The dug. He’s on the sofa already, and he’s only just got here.

May 2019 – Sketchbook 56

In my tent, ready to get up and tackle day three of this camp.

Day three is the last day, and it begins round the flag pole.

I’ve been helping some Cubs and Scouts get their art badge.

It’s a team effort, well organised by Dylan with the support of many D’Mains volunteers.

Travelling.

At Glasgow School of Art, looking at what Hilmi and Mo have been up to.

The project work is great. I like looking closely at the buildings around us too. This is just round the corner from the Edinburgh office.

It’s a warehouse: a well designed bay is repeated and some parts are elaborated, some played down.

Beautiful and unconventional urban design in Edinburgh at Shaw Street.

With some of out HTA Design team winning the “Clients’ Choice” Award at the AJ100 Awards.

Eating with Rettie at the Scottish Homes Awards, and talking about the prospects for Build to Rent in Scotland.

Working on Build to Rent with the Edinburgh Park Design team.

The project is for Parabola. Here it is being reviewed by Architecture & Design Scotland.

Travelling

Travelling, and dinner with the helpful Specifi team in Edinburgh.

Travelling.

An LSE talk on peoples’ attitudes to living at high density.

At home: Fraser & Innes playing on my phone between football and swimming lessons.

 

 

Christmas 2015

In reverse:

Daddys Birthday - 3 January 2015

The last event of the break, my dad’s 88th birthday.

prowe band - 1 January 2016

New years day, a brass band in the livingroom.

Andreas - 1 January 2015

AndreasAngus - 29 December 2015

Angus visited from France.

QAHS Reunion - 27 December 2015

Catching up with old school pals in Dunfermline. The same as we were, a little more tired but a little better at communication.

christmas 2016

Innes hid behind the sofa for the Queen’s speech.

 

Fun Box - 23 December 2015

Fun box was fun.

 

plane alone - 22 December 2015

The only person on a plane to London City the week before Christmas.

Actually these are the things I did in between riding the bike and painting portraits, in preparation for cycling from London to Cannes in March. I’ll show you the portraits next time.

 

Denis Mason-Jones – 19 November 2015

Thursday: an enjoyable evening looking at the sketches entered in the Denis Mason-Jones sketching competition, in Leeds.

Denis Mason Jones Competition  - 19 November 2015I met Denis’s son and picked the winner.

Tuesday: speaking at the Residential Investment Conference 2015. It was held underground, and the lecture theatre style benches glowed red. I tried not to be too distracted.

Resi Investment - 17 November 2015

Monday night: watching ideas for getting one million more homes into the outer London boroughs, Pecha Kucha style at the NLA.

Pecha Kucha - 16 November 2015

Saturday: more relaxed time spent in Edinburgh.

KMBT_C284-20151120114546KMBT_C284-20151120114614The kids playing sport.

Life Drawing at The London Sketch Club – 3 November 2015

Last month I gave a talk at the London Sketch Club about the benefits of keeping a sketch book. They were nice enough to invite me back to their life drawing class. I used to do a bit of life drawing, as a result of studying architecture for a while in Strasbourg. At Strathclyde they had taught me to draw by looking at tomato crates and piles of stools. In France they taught drawing by looking at a model. The first few look like Godzilla but it’s the fastest way to improve your skills.KM_C454e-20151104092224

I had a great time: thanks to Mark Prizeman for inviting me.

KM_C454e-20151104092241

At the dinner afterwards, I enjoyed meeting Violet Ryder, who’s father I remember from an eighties pop group.
‘We were so in phase
In our dance hall days
We were cool on craze
When I, you and everyone we knew
Could believe, do, and share in what was true’KM_C454e-20151104092206Wang Chung, Dance Hall Days, of course!KM_C454e-20151104092147Sitting looking at Wallis Gilbert and Partners’ exuberant Glaxo Building. They designed the more famous Hoover Building, but this one certainly has panache. A streamlined base course, as if from the pen of Raymond Loewy . I hope we can do something great with it.

The People I Know – 5 October 2015

Keith napping after lunch. He’s about to retire: all the leaving do’s have left him sleepy.

Keith Bowden  - 4 october 2015

An interesting chat with the guys from DC Thomson, although not the guys who do the drawings. I do want to meet them.

Blair Thomson & Alan Caldwell 5 October 20151

A quick look at a tall, elegant office in London…

179 Tottenham Court Road - 7 October 2015

…and the clock tower of St Pancras, recently framed by the stepped new public space at Kings Cross.

kings cross - 7 October 2015

The kids on the sofa. Watching someone else having a tablet shot seems to be almost as good as having a tablet shot.

me 20 years younger 4 October 2015

The main thing that happens in pubs is you spend time talking to drunk people. Some of them are entertaining. This is Marc, on a fun night at The Pig & Butcher with Kev.

Marc 2 - 14 October 2015

Harry Arora, first class Mortgage fixer at Barclays.

Harry Arora - 14 October 2015

I’ll not be retiring anytime soon.

The London Sketch Club – 30 September 2015

The London Sketch Club was founded in 1898 by a few prosperous illustrators of the day. It’s been on the go since and I enjoyed some dining and sketching in their fantastic first floor studio on Dilke Street in Chelsea.London Sketch Club - 30 September 2015It’s a club open only to those who make their living from drawing. And you have to be invited. Surrounded by silhouettes of past members, their beautiful works, and the items that make a studio a studio, I gave a talk on what I enjoy about sketching.

The rich history of the place makes for a great atmosphere and hopefully I can go back to do some life drawing one Tuesday night. Many thanks to the London Society for the invitation to talk, and the sketch club for hosting.

Cycle to MIPIM 2016 Launch – 29 September 2015

At the launch event for Cycle to MIPIM 2016.

Cycle to MIPIM - 20151450 km from London to Cannes in five days. All for good cause: children’s charity Coram. It’s in March, so bring on some Scottish winter training on the bike.

Allez les Bleu – 23 September 2015

Watching France beat Romania in the Olympic Stadium.

allez les bleu - 23 September 2015

One of the World Cup’s more predictable results. I loved the atmosphere generated by 50,000 people, even if more than half of them were neutrals. I backed the underdog, the most common reaction the world over.

virgin stewardess - 24 September 2015Flying home, thinking about what to say at the London Society’s Annual Sketchclub Dinner next Wednesday, 30th September.

Tickets available here. It includes a three course dinner.

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