Sunday 10 July 2011

Journey's end: 1 July 2011

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

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