Friday 20 May 2011

On yer bike!

So, it was tuesday evening and I had an hour to kill round Victoria way after work, and I headed out to find somewhere for a nice (decaf) coffee and some sketching. After proving WRONG the theory that in London you're never more than 6 metres from a Cafe Nero, I decided to settle for Starbucks only to discover it was a miniscule one with NO COMFY SEATS! Booo! Then I spied some wicker chairs and tables out the back, so taking my vanilla ("not too much syrup it can be a bit too sweet") latte with me and ignoring the voice in my head saying "Er you've got a horrible cold and sore throat, stay inside!!" I sat myself down, looked up and saw I had a perfect view of Westminster Cathedral. And... decided the viewpoint was a bit too difficult, so drew this lovely Boris Bike instead. Of course, it hadn't occurred to me that somebody might actually want to hire a hire bike, so there were a few hairy moments when people came over, fiddled about with keys and cards and things and I immediately speeded up my sketching, but fortunately it seemed there was something wrong with it so my subject was left be for me to finish. Result! And by the way, the left handlebar is higher than the right one in real life, not just my measurements gone wrong. No idea why.

6 comments:

  1. Excellent sketch! I have drawn people in public many times, and will try to find people that I think will be there for a long time. That done I settle down and forget the other problem, the people that get right between me and them! So I feel your pain.

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  2. I know, these people, how dare they get on with their daily lives while others are drawing! :-) Thanks for the comment!

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  3. Great sketch! I wonder if some people are curious to know what a 'Boris Bike' is! (One with one handlebar higher than the other...?)

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  4. Great sketch and nice anecdote. I'd like to see that awkward view of the Cathedral sometime.

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  5. Great sketch of a bike. I always have such trouble with the perspective on the wheels. You handle the subject deftly.

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