Environmental Storytelling: York

So far I have stuck to my original plan, and I dragged my younger sister Maressa to York with me for my first Visual Language destination. Thinking about it, I probably should have planned out the day a bit better than what I did. I chose a park and ride at random on the day I was heading out there, and winged it. We didn't even know where to ask for when we got on the bus from the park and ride car park, we simply asked for the city and got off when the majority of other people did. 

Even when we got of the bus we still had no idea where we were going. We ended up walking out towards the outskirts of the city center, which is where I found Fishergate Bar, a gateway that had been built in 1487. 

I started the day off by using fine liners, as I feel they are my strong point at the moment, and wanted to start the day of drawing on a good note, especially as it had been a while since I did any observational sketches. It's fair to say I was a little rusty. Having said this, a man passed me whilst I was drawing and asked if he could "have a look", and went on to compliment my work, which is always nice. Thank you kind stranger.

Once I finished my first drawing, we ventured back into what we thought was the city center. We came across Copper Gate Shopping Center and we went inside the square, as I figured there might be some nice shop fronts inside that would be nice to draw. Which lead me to my second drawing of the day. Whereas the drawing in my opinion is quite accurate, I really haven't done the space/environment any justice here. I wanted to try and portray that the Christmas tree was the center of the square, and that there were two streets leading off past the building in the drawing. Instead I managed to get the scale all wrong and ended up drawing just a small section of what I wanted to.

Me and Maressa then made our way around the shopping centre (after a Bagel Nash of course) in hopes of trying to find some historical buildings or landmarks that I knew York was quite famous for and it just so happened that we stumbled across Clifford's Tower. I thought it would be a lovely building to draw, and thought I'd be able to get some good views from the top of the tower, so we climbed the steps (I felt like I was going to topple over, we were out in the open, high up and it was VERY windy) in hopes of being able to get some good drawings from the top. I didn't realise we had to pay to get inside, but after the mountainous trek that was the flight of stairs I decided to pay us both in (it was rather expensive to say I was only wanting to stand and draw) and not let my efforts go to waste. I'm glad I did so as well, as it led to production of my favourite sketches of the day.

The one on the left is the view I had from one of the windows in the spiral staircases, which looked over the center of the tower. I chose fine liners again, because it was an automatic reaction. I did want to mix it up with the media I used, but I got lost in the moment so to say, and just started in pen. I'm glad I chose it though, as I really like how I have been able to pick out the brick detail in the walls.

For the drawing on the right I forced myself to use a different media. I decided on coloured pencils, as I hadn't used them in what felt like years, that, and I thought they'd be best for picking out the grass in the scene, as well as demonstrating how sunny it was at the time. Considering it had been a very long while since I had last used coloured pencil, I think I did well with this sketch, and I think I have accurately represented the bright environment with the use of colour. It definitely made a nice change from fine liner.

We were wondering around for a while, when we decided to stop for a hot drink at a small cafe under a bridge because it was so cold. It was by far the cutest little shop I have ever seen. It was decorated with homely ornaments and then because it was Christmas, the cafe was covered in tinsel and fake snow and snowflakes. It was so small and cosy and there was barely any room to move, so we took our drinks to the seating area upstairs where there were cushions on wooden stools for you to sit on. The room was stunning, and was just as nicely decorated as downstairs. I just had to draw something whilst I was there.

I started with the drawing on the left. I wanted to stay clear of pen because I'd used it too much, so I decided to go with ink and water. I thought this would be a nice media to capture the "lodge feel" that the room gave off, as well as demonstrate how old and warn the books on the window ledge were. I'm really fond of this drawing, and it is probably the one that took the least amount of time to complete too. I just love the wooden grain in the table and the fake frost in the windows, that looked out across the bridge. 

The last drawing (on the right) was done using water colours and I went with this media to try and capture how homely and comforting the cafe was. I think I have done a pretty good job. It's nowhere near as detailed as what the room was, but I found it hard to incorporate anymore detail using water colour. It was also hard to draw the space because of how small the room was (I could touch the wall parallel to the one I was already touching if I stretched) so I focused on one of the more interesting walls. 

I really enjoyed my time in York. Even though I didn't end up drawing what I had initially thought I was going to end up doing so, I am really pleased with what I have been able to draw. I really liked the fact that I went to York almost oblivious to what was there, as it really made me look for interesting buildings and spaces, and put me way out of my comfort zone. I loved the adventure that I ended up going on with my sister, but if I was to go again I think I will definitely do some more research, or at least take a map, so I can actually find places of interest.