Willesden Junction from Station Road: 20 May 2011

The area immediately around the station doesn't seem to have been developed much since the end of the 19th century with the exception of constant traffic.

There is an interesting group of Brazilian businesses close by including a finance company, a lingerie shop, a grocery store and I enjoyed a cup of coffee in a café that was showing a Brazilian game show on the television.

Willesden Junction - platform 4: 20 May 2011

Willesden Junction is a vast industrial site with platforms and railway tracks pointing in different directions and almost as far as the eye can see. It doesn't have the charm of Hampstead or the liveliness of Stratford but the many vertical and horizontal lines make for an interesting view.

Kensal Rise: 6 May 2011

I'm two thirds of the way through this project now and I can see the end in sight. It is tempting to rush ahead, get the job done and crack on with something else. Instead, I decided to take this drawing fairly slowly and savour the experience of being in a part of London that is new to me.

The journey to Kensal Rise took longer than expected what with cancellations and delays but when we finally got moving I enjoyed passing through the stations where I have already stopped and made drawings. It gave me a chance to be nostalgic while the journey is still in progress.

On arrival I peered through the slatted wooden fence separating the station from the neighbouring street and spied the word COFFEE in large letters on a building some distance away. I realised that I fancied a cup of coffee so headed over to this rather uninteresting looking building only to be greeted with this lovely scene of oranges on a cart outside the café. The weather was warm and not windy. I had a table to myself and was able to spread out. Towards the end I had a chat with the proprietor, who I think was Italian, who told me that watching me work in dip pen and ink reminded him of when he was at school and that's what they used to write with.