Marsh's Library

This is not how I normally draw. But when you're in a space as striking as Marsh's Library, you have to think perspective, or you won't do it justice. It opened in 1707, the first library in Ireland. So I measured (5 pencils high close to me, 1 pencil high at the end), I worked out the angles at the top and the bottom. I drew my basic lines with a light grey marker, got it completely wrong, measured again, and then went for it in black ink. I was sitting on my low chair, so that first shelf was really imposing. I distorted it slightly to accentuate that. And I decided to reduce the detail as I worked further out, just barely sketching our host, Julie, who was sitting at her desk at the very end.

It's such a treat to be given access to special places like this. Well worth the effort of perspective lines!

And they have a beautiful little garden too, which I had never seen before. So we will definitely be back in the spring!