Rathmines

Wonderful location for sketching. Most of the others stayed near the canal and the bridge, but I wanted to explore a little bit towards the back of Rathmines church. Plus, much as I love meeting up with other sketchers, when I'm actually sketching, I prefer to be alone, or at least with others who are on the same wavelength as me. I cannot bear the constant chatter of some people, lovely people, don't get me wrong, but not when I'm sketching. And yet, I can paint with Shelley with the two of us chatting away and that works for me. Well, we mostly talk about pigments, so that's probably why!

Bessborough Parade was the perfect spot for me. A quiet cul-de-sac behind Rathmines church, lovely terraced houses, enough room on the footpath for me to sit behind a parked car. Apparently the curve of the road follows a tributary to the Swan river. I assume both rivers are now underground.

After a brief chat with a man who's been homeless for 20 years,  I turned around and painted one of the lovely doors, with the unusual pillar at the gate. 

Despite my layers, I got cold. So it was time to move to a café. Grove Road café was packed with sketchers sitting at the benches at the window facing the canal. I picked a quiet table, ordered the best carrot cake ever and a pot of chamomile tea, and sketched in direct watercolour, the cake, the table, the little vase with dried flowers, the red chair, and the chap with the spikey hair and the leather jacket, plus two people sitting at the bench across the way.

It was a perfect afternoon. Looking at my sketches, they represent my favourite methods for urban sketching, fountain pen and watercolour, fountain pen and grey marker, and direct watercolour.

You can look at the sketches in more detail below