Drawing my way round London

One page left

2011-12-02T14:45:00.000Z

Yesterday I spent a few hours invigilating at an art exhibition. Since we only had a couple of visitors all afternoon I had plenty of time to complete a sketch in a book I'm keen to finish. Once I'd finished it I began leafing through it, having not looked at the sketches for a very long time, and this is what I found.

Several pages at the front have been torn out. Then the first image, a view of a park, is dated 26 April 1991! That's more than 20 years ago. I was obviously experimenting with oil pastel then because most of the drawings are in that medium. The next drawing is another view of the same park followed by a pot plant and then fruit in a bowl.

The book remained untouched for a couple of years when I took it up again. There is a run of drawings I made while staying with friends in Farnham in Surrey in summer 1993. These included a child's toy, some flowers in a vase, an unfinished drawing of Malcolm playing a guitar.

Then it's off to a visit to my parents in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk during harvest time. The trees look like palm trees and the scene is so bright that the end result appears like something from the Caribbean. Then there are autumn leaves followed by a pair of scissors and so on and on. This series ends in Brixton on 31 May 1994.

And so the book remained unused until 28 July this year. After being ignored for 17 years I decided to work in water soluble pencils. Not surprisingly the subjects I've concentrated on are much the same as before. The first few are views of our local park, then a view of a shopping street near Waterloo and views of St James' Park at lunchtime.

Yesterday's effort was a pen view of a side room in Union Chapel. I have one page left and am wondering what I'll choose to depict.

Kennington Park: April 1991

2011-07-28T18:14:00.000+01:00

Kennington Park, near where I lived in Brixton, South London

I've been rummaging through my old sketch books and have found that quite a few of them have unused pages in them. So I have resolved to use these on new drawings before I buy any more books.

This is the first image in the sketch book I'm now planning to complete and here are the notes I made on the back of it when I got home:
View in Kennington Park, 26 April 1991. I had the choice of staying indoors and moping because I haven't got a job or going out in the sunshine to Kennington Park and drawing a picture. So that's what I did.

While I was drawing a young black guy stopped by, sat down and started to chat. We chatted and he watched me while I drew. From time to time I'd show him what I'd done. He'd compliment me. He told me that he lived in Brixton, not far from me. He worked at the post office from 6am - 2pm. He'd done this for three years and said initially it was difficult getting up for 6am.

At one time I showed him the drawing and said 'It doesn't look much like Kennington Park does it?' and he replied 'It's your view of the park, it's how you see it' and I found that very reassuring.'

It was nice to be reminded of that conversation and I would never have found it if I hadn't decided to fill the remaining pages up in this sketchbook.

The garden hose

2011-07-17T19:39:00.000+01:00

It's been pouring with rain all day today so I made this sketch, using acrylic paint on paper, of our very wee garden. I left the french doors open and watched the rain bouncing off the roofs of the houses opposite and felt sorry for the festival goers just over the way in Victoria Park who'd paid good money to spend the weekend at the Lovebox festival.

I've signed up for the sketchbook 2012 project and it's been a few weeks since I did anything in my sketchbook so decided it was time to add another artistic effort. I have chosen the theme 'travel with me' and I am inviting the readers of my sketchbook to travel with me into a world of colour. I hope you enjoy it too.

Journey's end: 1 July2011

2011-07-10T10:06:00.000+01:00

This marks the end of this journey. I'm at Richmond Station and I've attempted, in this pen and ink drawing, to get a feel for the hustle and bustle of people constantly coming and going.

I chose to eat, very slowly, a pasty from the West Cornwall Pasty company for my lunch because they have tables and chairs on the concourse that provided a handy view of the foot traffic. Richmond is a very busy station with various lines beginning and ending there. The station architecture is an odd mish mash of styles from its Victorian beginnings, through 1960s utility, up to the present day with its smooth glass partitions and electronic gates.

I have finally completed this drawing journey which consisted of a series of around 30 short trips which got longer and longer the further west I went. It resulted in 49 drawings, beginning 1 August 2005 and ending 1 July 2011. My confidence in my drawing has developed along the way and I have learned to appreciate equally the drawings that were successful along with the less successful experiments. I enjoyed having you along for the ride too.

There were some high points and low points. One of the high points was drawing in Keat's garden in Hampstead and one of the low points was drawing in West Hampstead when it was so cold I regretted leaving the house and my eyes were watering so much I could hardly see what I was doing. The great thing was that I found if you look hard enough at the most unpromising locations there will always be something worth recording and I am very happy that I undertook this project.

I'll be back soon to announce other plans. See you soon.

Richmond Hill: 1 July 2011

2011-07-10T09:26:00.000+01:00

View of the Thames from Richmond Hill

I have arrived in Richmond which means I'm almost at the end of my journey. I was keen to return to a view I have drawn before which overlooks Petersham Meadow from Richmond Hill. I rarely visit this side of London so I felt as though I was on holiday for the day. I don't know my way around the town so finding my way back to this view felt a bit like an adventure.

Richmond is a very wealthy town. It is full of large, gracious houses with fancy cars parked outside. There are boutique hotels along the riverbank and expensive restaurants every which way. It happened to be a lovely sunny day when I visited and that enhanced the general feeling of tranquility and 'everything's all right with the world'. The last time I visited this particular view was back in May 2005 just a few months before I began this whole project so it seems fitting to show you the sketch I made then.

Same view as above: 30 May 2005

Kew Gardens: 24 June 2011

2011-06-25T11:53:00.000+01:00

I find it's always a mistake to have a preconceived idea about what you intend to draw and I fell into this trap yesterday.

I had planned to do an elaborate drawing inside the Palm House at Kew but they keep the temperature so hot in there, since it is full of tropical plants, I almost felt my life force drain out of me. It was fascinating exploring the place but I couldn't spend too long in there.

So I had to abandon that idea and mulled over what to do while sitting on a memorial bench outside this giant green house. I was surrounded by other limp looking visitors who seemed to be in need of recuperation as well as me which may explain why there are so many benches outside the Palm House.

So while sitting there I could see in the distance on top of a grassy hillock this temple which looked intriguing. So I wandered over to it via the Waterlilly House where a nice, elderly gent took some time to explain in clear detail the sex lives of waterlillies to us (which were in bloom and looking lovely). There are a few temples dotted around Kew Gardens and this one is called the Temple of Aeolus who was a mythical king of storms and winds.

When I got to a convenient position and began drawing away I was amused by a bunch of young school children who were behaving like the famous five and chasing up and down to the temple playing some game where they were rescuing people from slavery. I managed to draw part of one of these children but it may be difficult to spot.

The Railway Pub, Kew Gardens: 24 June 2011

2011-06-25T11:20:00.000+01:00

I've reached Kew Gardens now and only have one more station left to visit which will mark the end of my journey. I'm pleased that I'm still enjoying the train ride and recalling the images I've drawn as we pass through each station.

I was very much looking forward to revisiting Kew Gardens. I finally arrived at the station around lunch time so decided to kill two birds with one stone by having lunch in the Railway Pub. When you look at the building from the outside it appears to have been built at the same time as the railway ticket office but I can't imagine what it was used for.

From where I was sitting I could see the station platform to my left with the trains arriving and departing and to my right the busy little cul de sac outside the station with its fancy restaurants, health food shop, book shop, banks and expensive children's clothes shop. I chose a complicated scene to draw and wasn't sure where to start, or to finish, for that matter. The tennis from Wimbledon was showing on the TV in the pub and the commentary was loud enough to be a welcome diversion from my internal dialogue that was grumbling away while I laboured on the drawing. I eventually decided to call it quits around 2.20pm since I also wanted to get into Kew Gardens and do a drawing there too. On reflection I quite like its unfinished look.

Chiswick roundabout: 10 June 2011

2011-06-11T10:24:00.000+01:00

I turned left out of Gunnersbury station and found myself on Chiswick High Road. My only associations with Chiswick is remembering visiting my brother when he lived in a very cold, shared house in the area back in the '70s so this is uncharted territory for me.

I wandered along the road until I reached the Chiswick roundaboat and flyover. Now this I did recognise and decided to record the view because like it or not it is a famous west London landmark. It was tricky to work out how to portray noisy moving traffic that wasn't still long enough to draw. I decided to suggest it with the movement of the lines and one or two vehicles. I also observed that the trees and shrubs growing on the roundabout are really beautiful and that's not something you'd notice when you are just racing round it in a car.

Gunnersbury: 10 June 2011

2011-06-11T10:09:00.000+01:00

The view when I got off the train was fairly dispiriting. It was raining as well so I sheltered in the waiting room and drew this view leaving out the window frame. I did wonder if I should have stayed at home. However I persevered for a bit and found I'd become quite fascinated by this view of damaged concrete that is supporting a road or car park or whatever it is.

When I decided that enough was enough I spotted a young man watching me work. We got into conversation and he came and sat next to me. He asked if he could look at the sketch book and as he flicked through the pages asked me for some tips for improving his own freehand drawing. So I gave him an impromptu lesson and he seemed quite pleased. I hope he goes for it and has the courage to persevere with his own drawing.

Just outside South Acton station: 3 June 2011

2011-06-04T13:23:00.000+01:00

And then I turned left out of the station and was met with this view straight out of suburbia. There was so much greenery growing around this house I wondered if they got any natural daylight at all.

South Acton: 3 June 2011

2011-06-04T13:20:00.000+01:00

This was my second drawing of a bridge in one day (a record for me). South Acton was not as picturesque as Acton Central but I found this view intriguing none-the-less.

Acton Park: 3 June 2011

2011-06-04T13:17:00.000+01:00

This is Acton Park which is just outside Acton Central station. There was a fun fair behind this pavilion and I enjoyed listening to the fun while I made this drawing. I used pen and ink for this sketch and managed to get ink all over me.

Acton Central: 3 June 2011

2011-06-04T13:09:00.000+01:00

This was the warmest day of the year so far and that made me feel as though I was on holiday.

Acton Central seems to be very green and leafy and delightfully old fashioned. It was like taking a step back in time.

Willesden Junction from Station Road: 20 May 2011

2011-05-21T12:16:00.000+01:00

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

2011-05-21T11:55:00.000+01:00

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

2011-05-07T11:20:00.000+01:00

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.

Close to Brondesbury Park station: 28 March 2011

2011-03-28T21:08:00.000+01:00

This is the drawing I made after I had left the station and turned right into what I think was Salisbury Road.

I was attracted to the view in the distance and then ended up drawing what was in front of it. For this one I used a fine black pen and the previous one was in pencil.

Since I can never predict what medium I will want to work in at any given time I usually take a selection of things so I can make a choice on the spur of the moment. I decided at the beginning of this project that I would do all the drawings in mono, regardless of the medium, to provide some continuity.

Brondesbury Park station: 28 March 2011

2011-03-28T21:01:00.000+01:00

Brondesbury Park station struck me as being much more attractive than Brondesbury where I was just 10 days ago but that is probably because the weather was so nice today.

This station, along with all the others on this line, is undergoing major refurbishment. However the covered walkways still retain some of their Victorian charm and in this drawing I was interested by the lines of the roofs. Simple as that.

Brondesbury: 18 March 2011

2011-03-18T19:46:00.000Z

Today was my attempt to restart this drawing project and, as you can see, I have managed to complete a drawing.

It was definitely warmer today than my last excursion at the end of January but, because it rained most of the day, it still felt very cold. I've decided that I must be a fair weather artist after all.

Since it was raining I needed to find some shelter so I sat in the waiting area at the edge of the platform. In the old days you would have had a real waiting room to sit in that had doors and even a gas heater to keep off the chill. Now, if you are lucky, you get to sit in something like a bike shed.

While I was sitting there I felt there was a tangible relationship between the shape and size of my shelter and the shape and size of a train carriage so my view from here is as though I was sitting in the train that I was actually waiting for.

West Hampstead: 28 January 2011

2011-01-28T17:32:00.000Z

West Hampstead has three stations. Three in walking distance of each other! I suppose if the train network was being designed now instead of roughly 150 years ago the engineers would have devised one large railway hub which would extend north, south, east and west.

Today I pitched up at the one in the middle of the three. It was very cold, really too cold to draw outside. I headed out of the station looking for a lunch stop and ended up at a small café called Bon Café and enjoyed an egg mayo sandwich and gazed out of the window wondering where to go to draw. When I wasn't staring out of the window I watched the lunchtime news on the tv which was broadcasting the rioting going on in Cairo which I found quite disturbing.

When I couldn't find any excuse for staying put I left the warmth behind and went exploring. Fortunately there was a lot more going on in the area than there had been at Finchley Road. The general views were a lot more interesting and if it had been warmer I would have enjoyed taking more time over my drawing. As it was I tossed this picture off and developed it a bit more when I got home and my hands had thawed out.

So I have decided to mothball this drawing project until the weather has warmed up. I'll keep an eye on the weather forecasts over the next few weeks before I set out again.

Finchley Road & Frognal: 14 January 2011

2011-01-14T19:58:00.001Z

Wire mesh fences running the length of the platform

At last, after a six week break I've been able today to get back to trekking my way round north London.

As anyone who has ever been outside their house knows many journeys are beset with unexpected delays and diversions. My life was suddenly diverted in December by falling over in the street and earning myself a celebrity fracture made famous by David Beckham. I broke my fifth metatarsal on my left foot and although I've been able to walk I've pretty much avoided going anywhere I didn't have to and that includes leisurely train journeys.

Then we were clobbered with unusual amounts of snow. They are used to snow up in Northumberland where my mother-in-law lives. It falls in vast quantities every year but down south, here in the capital, we usually only see snow on Christmas cards. For the time being all that has melted away, the temperatures have risen so now is the time to get out and about.

Oh, and did I also mention that every journey has sections that are very tedious. Today's outing was one of those. I always take the view that there is always something interesting to draw if you only look for it. I looked in the station. I looked as I walked along the high road. I looked again as I walked back towards the station. I wondered if this would be the stop with no drawing.

I walked back down to the platform to wait for a train home and drew what was in front of me. This was one of the wire mesh fences used to separate passengers from the building works going on along the length of the platform and in the background you can see a quick outline of a train that moved before I could add any detail.

When I got home I had a chat with my friend David who began to reminisce about Finchley Road because he had lived near there in the '70s when he was a schoolboy. He remembered when he'd had a job as a road sweeper and the perils of driving his little cart over a busy four lane highway. He recalled an obscure lane he was scared to walk down in case he got beaten up by skin heads. He talked about a café that only sold freshly ground coffee and that a pub opposite it had been blown up by the IRA. He was at home when he heard the explosion.

This just showed me that it is possible to live a very rich and interesting life in a very dull looking place so perhaps I shouldn't have been so judgmental.

Interruption to the service: 21 December 2010

2010-12-21T16:33:00.000Z

I'd had plans to press on with the drawing project throughout December. I hadn't counted on the weather being too cold to draw in, then having an accident as I was walking on a pavement and breaking a bone in my foot (which is healing very nicely) and the train line being closed over the Christmas period.

Oh well! I will return to the sketchbook as soon as I reasonably can in the New Year and so all I can say is 'Seasons Greetings'.

Keats Garden, Hampstead: 26 November 2010

2010-11-26T17:00:00.001Z

I was very excited at the prospect of drawing in the garden of Keats House. Until today I really knew nothing about him other than he was a poet who died young. I had the idea that he had drowned in the Bay of Naples but it was Shelley who drowned.

Initially I strolled around the garden while I was deciding where to work and thought this is the house of someone extremely well off. Well for a start Keats didn't own it and it turns out that he came from a humble background and had a very turbulent life with almost his entire family, including himself, dying of tuberculosis. Frankly it's amazing he managed to produce any poetry at all.

Since it was so cold today I thought I would be doing well to complete any drawing at all so for an hour I worked away with a dip pen and ink pausing occasionally to have a cup of tea from my flask. I chose to sit under an awning that provided a bit of shelter and some visual interest and here is the result.

Hampstead Heath Station: 26 November 2010

2010-11-26T16:19:00.000Z

This morning I enjoyed the train ride from Homerton, my nearest station, to Hampstead and it only took about 20 minutes. It was fun looking out of the window and remembering the sketches I have made so far and reflecting on how interesting the journey has been.

Today has been lovely and sunny and very cold. Quite a lot of the country has got snow which is most unusual at this time of year for the UK. London has escaped it so far but we can still expect very cold weather for the next couple of weeks. So my aim was to draw quickly and still produce something worthwhile and for once I managed to get some people in it. The ink in my pen was reluctant to get on the paper so the result is very sketchy (that could mean the pen is either running out of ink or it was just too cold).

Hampstead Heath: 18 November 2010

2010-11-18T18:50:00.000Z

I had no idea when I got off at Gospel Oak how close I was to Hampstead Heath. According to the local map I just had to turn left out of the station and then take the first left, and there it was in front of me.

Even though I have lived in London for 30 years I've only visited the heath a couple of times so I really felt I was exploring somewhere unknown.

I walked up to the top of the heath to Parliament Hill Fields where the authorities have thoughtfully placed a number of park benches. From this vantage you can enjoy a very famous view of London's skyline. This sketch really does not do the view justice but, for what it's worth, I managed to get Canary Wharf in on the left hand side and St Paul's Cathedral on the right hand side.

Since it's November and there is not much day light around I was lucky that the sky was a lovely combination of soft billowy greys and some of the buildings on the skyline appeared ghostly and insubstantial. The air smelled lovely and clean and I could hear birdsong too. Eventually the cold drove me to search out a café.

I never did find out where the tumulus was that I'd seen indicated on the park map. Maybe that can wait for another visit.

Gospel Oak: 18 November 2010

2010-11-18T18:17:00.000Z

My journey around London came to an unexpected halt a couple of weeks ago due to me catching a heavy cold. Now I have recovered I was raring to get back to my travels and continue exploring.

I gather from our friend Wikipedia that the name Gospel Oak derives from an oak tree under which parishioners gathered to hear an annual gospel when the area was still rural so that must date back at least 150 years.

This sketch, begun in the rain and completed at home, shows Gospel Oak's twin railway bridges. One leads to Richmond and other such places and the other takes you to Barking.

Kentish Town West: 28 October 2010

2010-10-28T17:48:00.000+01:00

When I got off the train at Kentish Town West the first thing I could see in the distance was the BT Tower formerly the Post Office Tower, one of London's landmarks. It used to have a revolving restaurant so diners could get a 360 degree view of London. It was closed about 30 years ago because of fears about IRA terrorism but is going to reopen in 2011 and I'm sure it is going to be way out of my price range.

I still thought it merited a quick sketch even though I'm not going to dine there so I did this pen drawing of it in the distance. I've included a bit of wobbly hand-held video with this posting because this station more-or-less marks the half way point on my route.

Camden Road: 28 October 210

2010-10-28T17:19:00.000+01:00

I found this pencil drawing particularly difficult to do. The perspective was all over the place and I wanted to try and draw some of the Victorian cast iron work that is a feature of this station. Camden Road, close to the famous Camden Markets, is unlike any of the other stations I have visited so far. You can clearly see that it is still a Victorian Station even though it is being painted the same colour as all the other stations on this route which have been refurbished beyond recognition.

La Primera Café: 22 October 2010

2010-10-22T17:56:00.000+01:00

I felt a bit lost when I came out of the station so was peering around for a minute or two in search of a café. Initially I saw a bespoke kitchen shop, didn't want that. Next door there was a bathroom shop, didn't want that either. I cast around and then saw what I was after and headed towards La Primera Café - finest Italian coffee.

I've no idea how good the coffee was because I had tea and a slice of cake. It seemed to be the kind of place that doesn't bother with plates but I did get a cup for the tea and I chose a window seat so I could draw the view.

I decided that since the previous sketch had been so tightly drawn I would go for a loose pencil approach for a change and I quite like the result.

Caledonian Road and Barnsbury: 22 October 2010

2010-10-22T17:48:00.000+01:00

I can't get used to the stations on this line appearing so new and clean - but I do like it. It's much more pleasant as a paying passenger than the old grit and grime we've been used to.

The only trouble is (from the point of view of an artist) that each station is looking much like the one I was at before. Even so I am managing to find interesting views to draw at each station.

Now it's getting into late October it is getting quite chilly to work outside. I'm putting more layers on now and soon I'll be wearing a hat. Since I was getting cold having sat for long enough I decided to get out of the station and go and look for a café preferably close by. Which leads me to my next drawing.

Highbury Fields: 15 October 2010

2010-10-16T12:18:00.000+01:00

This is a view of Highbury Fields which the description on the notice board states is the largest public park in the borough of Islington and pre Victorian times used to be full of dairy farms. I thought it was a bit pokey compared with our local parks and felt a bit sorry for the residents.

Anyway, it was quite cold and I wanted to draw something quickly. I liked this avenue of trees and wanted to try and describe the quantity of leaves against the stark trunks and branches.

Highbury & Islington: 14 October 2010

2010-10-16T12:09:00.000+01:00

I was sitting on the west bound platform and looking up at buildings overlooking Highbury & Islington station just after dusk. The days are getting shorter now and chillier.

The old ticket office: 2 October 2010

2010-10-02T17:47:00.000+01:00

I approve of the refurbishment of Canonbury station but the ticket office looks like a concrete shed thrown up in the 1950s. I was wondering where the original ticket office had been because the present one clearly isn't it. Anyway it was obvious which building it had been when I left the station and turned to my left.

Here's a somewhat wonky line drawing of it. I think it's a rather handsome building - the three large windows on the ground floor could have been where you bought your train ticket from. And I wondered if there was a waiting room behind the door on the left? Well I can only speculate about its previous use because it's now been turned into a small block of flats (that's handy for the station).

There's birdsong and rain in the air: 2 October 2010

2010-10-02T17:27:00.000+01:00

So now I've left Hackney behind and have reached Canonbury in the borough of Islington.

Like the other stations that were part of the North London line Canonbury is being extensively renewed. It was built during the 1860s when London was expanding rapidly but very soon any remaining Victorian features here will have been obliterated and all you will see is a brand new station. It will be much more comfortable to use and there is this wonderful addition of a lift, or elevator, if you prefer.

This drawing shows the old wall backing on to gardens overlooking the railway and I used mostly water soluble pencils plus black pen.

Ridley Road market: 25 September 2010

2010-09-25T16:51:00.000+01:00

Ridley Road market from the point of view of my feet

Since I was in Dalston I decided to do some food shopping before going home. I could have bought some stuff in Ridley Road market but didn't feel up to choosing which stalls to patronise and which to ignore so I took the easy option and headed to the supermarket instead.

Here's a drawing I made last year of my impressions of Ridley Road market. I was commissioned to do it as a Christmas card which was sent out to 45,000 people in north Hackney. Hackney is multi racial and multi religious so I was keen to avoid any obvious Christian references and focused on the celebration of food instead. I like it but I've no idea what the 45,000 recipients thought of it.

View of the City of London: 25 September 2010

2010-09-25T16:22:00.000+01:00

Having left Dalston Kingsland station (to give its full name) I strolled down the road to a noodle bar for some lunch and saw this view of the City of London from Kingsland Road. It is a common mistake, and one I make routinely, of thinking of London as being completely flat. From where I was standing this view was distinctly looking down hill.

Dalston Kingsland: 25 September 2010

2010-09-25T16:15:00.000+01:00

Moving on to Dalston now and I didn't expect to go through a small tunnel like structure when everything became quite dark. This is illogical because the station is underneath a road and so I should expect it to get darker. I've been wanting for a while to do a drawing that was mostly black ink. I did this using Parker Quink black ink. When I applied it to the paper it appeared to be blue/black and then dried a rusty brown. I've been assured it will go darker in time.

This is a very busy station and just as I was getting up to leave a young man sat next to me wearing regulation headphones and, lo and behold, opened a sketchbook which is exactly like one I own and began doing a quick drawing of a man sitting on a bench on the opposite platform. I would have engaged him in a chat if he hadn't made it very clear that conversation wasn't an option. I must admit that's exactly what I do so I can't complain when others do it too. Anyway I enjoyed seeing someone else doing the same as me because it made me feel I'm part of some underground movement.

A brief pause in Hackney: 17 September 2010

2010-09-17T18:37:00.000+01:00

I decided it would be nice to pause in Hackney briefly before moving on to Dalston. I enjoyed lunch at a noodle bar in Morning Lane and then sauntered over to the Town Hall in the afternoon sunshine and this view is part of its small, formal front garden.

I thought I would have a go at the dip pen again this time and, being very daring, used two nibs of different widths and a Chinese caligraphy brush to paint the grass.

Arriving in Hackney Central: 11 September 2010

2010-09-11T18:03:00.000+01:00

This is what took my fancy when I arrived at Hackney Central. I seemed to have the station entirely to myself.

Looking back: 11 September 2010

2010-09-11T17:59:00.000+01:00

I returned to Homerton today and before I got on the train to travel one stop to Hackney Central I took the opportunity to look back towards Hackney Wick.

From where I was sitting the view looked oddly rural which is an illusion since London is entirely man-made and generally very built up. But then again London is just a very large collection of towns and villages that have merged over the years so it's not really that suprising when a glimpse of a rural scene pops up. I wonder how many more I will see on this journey.

I chose to use a dip pen for this drawing. I haven't used one of these for years and I really love the wonky lines, scratches in the paper and the very prominent blob of ink in the foreground. It's tricky working out how much ink to leave in the reservoir and this is what can happen when there's too much!

The last time I was at Homerton I had to work with the thumping noise of a construction site going on in the background. This time, being the weekend, it was blessedly quiet and all I could hear were ordinary domestic sounds overlaid with some jazz music coming from one of the flats near the station. Lovely.

Homerton Station: 3 September 2010

2010-09-03T16:21:00.003+01:00

I travelled one stop from Hackney Wick to Homerton station on a beautiful sunny morning and then drew this picture. I left the train, stepped on to the platform and there was a seat right in front of me so I chose to work from that one.

By following my rule of drawing whatever I can see in front of me I ended up with this view facing north. There is a lot of building work going on immediately around the station so my time there was accompanied by some spectacular noise and in addition I was surprised by the number of freight trains that were thundering through the station.

This station is the closest one to where I live so from here on I will be moving further away from the safety of familiar territory. Incidentally, the photo at the top of this blog is of Homerton station.

Rail replacement bus service: 28 August 2010

2010-08-28T16:25:00.001+01:00

Now we are back from our summer holiday spent travelling around the West Country catching up with friends and exploring a tiny bit of Cornwall I was ready to work on my next drawing.

I walked through Victoria Park, over the bridge spanning the A12 and towards Hackney Wick station when it occurred to me that there might be engineering works this weekend and, blow me, there is.

I could have got on the rail replacement bus service to go one stop to Homerton but since this project is as much about travelling by train as it is about drawing I decided to wait until the service resumes.

The bridge over the A12: 16 July 2010

2010-07-24T13:30:00.002+01:00

I could see this bridge beckoning to me from Hackney Wick station. Once across it I could quickly walk into Victoria Park and then I was nearly back home.

This bridge offers people on foot a way of crossing the A12 without getting run over. Although the A12 is not a motorway is certainly looks and sounds like one with traffic using it constantly 24 hours of the day.

I believe I read in the Guardian once that Philip Pullman*, the novelist, regards the A12 trunk road as having mystical properties. I find that hard to credit but perhaps it's something to do with the route it follows rather than anything else. Anyway this memory reminded me that I had painted a picture from the Victoria Park side of the road looking over to the waste land that was Hackney Wick. The pale paint at the bottom of the picture represent exhaust fumes! Enjoy.

* It has been suggested to me that it is more likely to be Iain Sinclair the author who writes about psychogeography amongst other things.

Stratford to Hackney Wick: 16 July 2010

2010-07-24T13:09:00.002+01:00

So now I've reached Hackney Wick and I wanted to try and draw some of the passengers who use the station. Of course they would keep moving around so that is why some of them are only partially there!

If you fancy taking a look at the link below you'll see my video of the entire train ride from Stratford to Hackney Wick. I found it interesting because it shows how the Olympic site is coming on. The train stops for a while next to the swimming pool then, when it starts moving again, you can see the stadium in the background.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYvgQspkTBg

Waiting at Stratford Station: 24 June 2010

2010-06-25T09:30:00.001+01:00

Sitting on platform one underneath a bridge beyond which is the building site which will be the new Westfield shopping centre.

The joys of Stratford Bus Station: 24 June 2010

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Over the years I have probably spent hours waiting at Stratford Bus Station. My parents used to live in Suffolk in a town called Bury St. Edmunds and you can catch the coach from here. Although the bus station is fairly new it smells of stale fast food and, being tunnel shaped, the wind whips through it. If you have to wait for more than 15 minutes you can end up feeling like a frozen block.

I've arrived at Stratford: 17 June 2010

2010-06-18T11:58:00.001+01:00

In my opinion Stratford is an odd place. When we first moved to Hackney, which was only six years ago, Stratford was a junction that you went to in order to travel to somewhere else - it wasn't a destination as such. A lot of buildings were boarded up, there was a collapsed air about the place and deprivation was clear all around. The only signs of life might be a street fight outside a café.

Then five years ago the 2012 Olympic games were awarded to London with Stratford being at its heart. One of the blessings of this decision is that millions of pounds are being pumped into the area to regenerate it. So yesterday I went there by train, enjoying the fancy new rolling stock, and arrived at a very clean and new platform that suggested efficiency and purpose. This felt very odd and nothing like the Stratford I'm familiar with.

I decided that this was not what I wanted to record on paper, well not yet anyway. I wanted a reminder of the faded, down-at-heel Victorian architecture, pollution and too much traffic. So I ended up in the centre of the town in St John's churchyard where I found a place to sit underneath a memorial. It was a warm day, I had the place to myself and as I looked about I thought 'this is a fairly dismal sort of churchyard but it'll do'. Then I spied a bottle and decided I must be sitting where the drunks normally hang out but there was no sign of any. So I sat and drew the picture you see above - I was facing the Broadway which runs from East to West. I combined water soluble pencil and ink on this one.

It wasn't until I got home that I looked up some of the history of Stratford which I got from Wikipedia. Like much of London Stratford was open countryside until the advent of the railways in 1839 so that didn't surprised me. What did surprise me was that there had been an abbey called St Mary's which dominated the area from 1135 when it was founded, until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538. That's 400 years and there is now no sign above ground of it ever having existed!

So that's made me ponder the future of all this new building of sports stadia and the development of an enormous shopping centre that is now dominating the landscape. I can't imagine for one moment that there will be any of it left to see in another 400 years time - maybe by then London will have returned to open countryside.

Manor Road, West Ham: 4 June 2010

2010-06-10T17:11:00.000+01:00

I decided to go back to West Ham a couple of weeks later because I'd spotted a view right outside the station that looked worth a go at.

It was a rare day of sunshine and even though I was sitting in some shade I had to stop drawing because I was too hot.

Memorial Park, West Ham: 21 May 2010

2010-06-10T17:04:00.000+01:00

For this sketch I decided to try out some water soluble pencils that I'd been given as a present.

Behind that row of trees in the background is the East London cemetery which I had roamed around before settling on this view in Memorial Park.

West Ham is a big improvement on Canning Town in my view.

Barking Road, Canning Town: 30 March 2009

2010-06-10T16:59:00.002+01:00

Since I'd found West Sivertown so dispiriting I took the train one stop to Canning Town, and rather than make a drawing inside the station I set off on foot to see what Canning Town has to offer.

And it wasn't a lot to be honest. After a cup of coffee in Macdonald's I settled on drawing the only building that looked in any way substantial and that was the Victorian library on Barking Road.

West Silvertown: 30 March 2009

2010-06-10T16:50:00.001+01:00

I had only put the book away for 11 months this time and then found the time to pick up from where I had left off.

I took the DLR to West Silvertown and the caption on this drawing says: This station is so devoid of interest I can't find anything to hold my attention.

Thames Barrier Park: 23 April 2008

2010-06-10T16:40:00.002+01:00

I had foolishly sat in the smokers' corner just outside London City airport and felt driven away by the smell. So I got back on the DLR and headed one stop to Pontoon Dock - this is a vast modern station with almost no-one using it.

This stop had the attraction of a park with a pleasant café and a view of the Thames Barrier which is responsible for keeping London from flooding. I had never seen it before other than in a photograph.

London City Airport: 23 April 2008

2010-06-10T16:27:00.002+01:00

So it was roughly 2.5 years before I picked up this sketch book again. I caught the Silverlink train from Hackney Central at 13:06 to Stratford and then expected to pick up a train from Stratford to Silvertown only to discover that the trains don't run that far any more!

I then decided to try and stick as closely as possible to the original route and caught the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) to London City airport - this was before the authorities got funny about people taking photos and painting sensitive locations. This was drawn using dip pen and ink (Quink ink for fountain pens).

North Woolwich: 1 August 2005

2010-06-10T16:15:00.003+01:00

This really marked the start of my journey. It was nearly a month after the 7 July bombings in London and I remember the tension where ever you went - there was a police presence at every station. This is a sketch of the North Woolwich Railway Museum and you can see where my pen is running out.

Woolwich Ferry: 1 August 2005

2010-06-10T16:04:00.003+01:00

This is the one and only time I've visited Woolwich Ferry. I had a great time watching the ferries load up and cross the river Thames from the north side of the river to the south side. There was a constant stream of lorries, cars and foot passengers - I had no idea how many people use that service daily.