Sketches from Cyprus

I was lucky enough to travel to Larnaca, Cyprus last week to do some external examining at a college there. Here's what I had time to draw. Firstly at Manchester Airport - about 30 minutes, the second drawn on the marina promenade - 50 minutes, sketching with a colleague (we timed ourselves). Then the complex panoramic view from my hotel balcony sketched over 2 mornings. I remember from a holiday to Cyrpus years ago, the distinctive landing lights on top of dockside cranes - and also the radio mast and wanted to get them in my sketches. Then one evening, returning back to my hotel room after dinner and wanting to draw, I did my first night time sketch...in the dark. All I could see were outlines of buildings and lights (lots of them) including the landing lights and radio mast. It's a bit of a departure from my usual style...strangely liberating, although looks a bit frenetic!

Urban sketching in Castlefield, Manchester

At last...a perfect afternoon for urban sketching. Here we are, the Manchester Urban Sketching group happy in the Manchester sunshine! We're in Castlefield, a historic and Victorian city centre regeneration area on a sunny Sunday afternoon in June. My sketch is of the Bridgewater canal basin, I really enjoy drawing narrow boats; my father had a boat on the Bridgewater canal for years, and I spent much of my adolescent years messing around on boats and canals. Quite a loose sketch, another instance of not having enough time, but enlivened with bright splashes of colour. Deansgate Chapel and the iconic Beetham Tower in the distance. Great output, some lovely work!

Manchester Urban Sketching group

Bridgewater canal basin, Manchester

Collected work from Manchester Urban Sketching group

London urban sketches

I have just spent a couple of days in London and wanted to share my sketches. The first one of Borough Market was sketched at dusk on Thursday evening and then the view from my hotel room was just so complex and busily urban, I wanted to capture it in a sketch rather than photograph. Yesterday walking along the Southbank, I spent an hour (I gave myself a fixed time) on an unseasonably bitterly cold afternoon, to complete a pretty challenging view from St Paul's round to Tate Modern. Lots of urban clutter and bold splashes of colour make for an exciting urban sketch!

Albert's Chop House, Manchester

This is my final urban sketch from our group sessions this year. It's of the Memorial Hall, Albert Square, Manchester - remembered by Mancunians more fondly as the Square Albert (pub). Recently and beautifully refurbished by architects Ombler Iwanowski, and now Albert's Chop House - companion to the celebrated Sam's and Mr Thomas' Chop Houses. A welcome addition to Manchester hostelries, but I digress! Because it was so bitterly cold, I sat indoors, in the adjacent Slug and Lettuce and drew what I could see through the window. The sketch took about an hour, maybe just over. I wanted to make it quite jolly with splashes of bright watercolour - Tampopo's red signage and blue signposts. You can see the window frames and brick arches I am looking through.

In case this is my last post of 2012, and that depends very much on wi-fi in Cornwall...I make the long trip south tomorrow to Rock, near Padstow. To anyone reading this, I wish you all the very best for the new year, and hope you are having a lovely festive break.

Couple of quick Manchester views

Drawn quickly whilst out urban sketching. Both took about 20 minutes including watercolour. Any Manchester people reading this, hopefully should recognise the views..?

Mann Island, Liverpool

As part of a visit to Liverpool Biennial with our students on Wednesday, we walked down to the Tate at the Albert Dock, and it was really interesting to revisit the view I had painted last year from unfinished photographs of Mann Island - a new commercial development by architects Broadway Malyan. I was quite surprised, and rather pleased, at how similar the painting and photograph were. 

The reason I am so drawn to this view, is the complexity and layering of the city...dock, ferry, Victorian building, modern architecture at its most inscrutable (as an architect I really like it, but can appreciate it has had a mixed reaction from the general public) - and the stunning backdrop of Liverpool's Three Graces. I actually have quite an emotional response to this view and would really like to do some more paintings in this area. If our Urban Sketchers group gets off the ground, I'll definitely organise a Liverpool day-out!

Mann Island, Liverpool October 2012

Liverpool skyline, painted 2011

London skyline

This is a drawing from Greenwich Observatory looking out across the Naval College and River Thames, over towards Canary Wharf.  I was partcularly interested in the complicated juxtapostion of classical buildings in the foreground, with the modern city skyline beyond. The drawing is A3 sized and taken from from an assemblage of my photographs. I have had it professionally printed onto watercolour ready to paint.

ManchesterInArt exhibition

I am delighted to be one of the artists in VenturesInArt's 'ManchesterInArt' exhibition, at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel, Piccadilly Place. I have five Manchester city views on display and they are available to buy online via VenturesInArt's website. The exhibition is an interesting mix of original artwork with over 70 paintings and photographs by 18 local artists. Definitely worth a visit and runs until January 2013.


ManchesterInArt website
ManchesterInArt Simone Ridyard

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Manchester skyline watercolour (reworked 2012)