Sketching at Norwich Cathedral

I'm writing this up after the event but.....

On Saturday 10th April I met up with my OCA friends (we share the same tutor who put us in touch with each other) for a day sketching outdoors at Norwich Cathedral.  We had previously been to Paul's house in Cambridge and done life drawing (clothes on!).  It's really useful to meet up with others doing a similar kind of course as we can discuss the way we are doing things and share ideas and information. 

At the cathedral it was the first time Rachel (no A) and me the other RachAel had done any real sketching outdoors in public so it was nice to have someone else there!  We had had thoughts of going inside and doing some drawings in the interior but it was such a lovely sunny day we spent the whole time outside.  As well as trying to capture the vastness of the building we also took the opportunity to draw trees as well.  I think we were both surprised by how difficult it was to draw the building compared to trees/people.  We decided it was probably because trees and people move so you are trying to capture an essence whereas the building is so solidly there it is much easier to see where you have gone 'wrong'.

Here are some of my sketches from the day - Firstly some trees using felt tipped pens.  Enjoyed trying out different ways of getting the textures.

Next some very quick studies of people who were moving about - have been recommended this as a good practice activity.

The first few drawings we did of the cathedral we tried to time ourselves to force us to get the detail down quickly - I think this is a really useful way of making sure you don't get stuck on one part of what you are looking at although we found it impossible to do in 1 or 3 minutes!  This took about 5 using charcoal.

I did some studies of parts of the building using pen (I think my favored medium for these kinds of drawing)

After lunch we spent a bit more time on a picture of the building from a different view point.

Rachel and myself are going to have another arty day next Saturday when we are going to a masterclass with the Chinese painter in residence at Norwich Castle Museum followed by a trip round some of the Open Studios.  We also have a life drawing day booked for a few weeks time so I'm making sure I keep up my drawing and practical skills whilst doing this course.