Barnardo Square

Sketching solo until I catch up with the others. This is Barnardo Square. Looking at the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, this was the site of a mill on the river Poddle in the 12th century. The river is now covered, and the only place where you will see it in the city centre is where it connects with the Liffey. I sketched that location when we did the Bridges of Dublin! There is nothing that remains of the mill on the surface unfortunately. That said, before I sat down, I noticed a glass panel in the pavement that probably shows some of what remains below ground, but I couldn't see anything. Maybe it was just water droplets on top of the glass, so I must have a look again next time I'm in the area.

My main interest when I chose this location was the two buildings across the way. The one on the left is a pub, but has interesting modern architecture at the top, and the one on the right was striking because of its black and white paint on the first floor. It's a lock and safe company. A strange location for that business, but maybe it does well with all the shops and restaurants in the area?

I only included two people, but this is actually a busy meeting point for tours of Dublin, and a place for delivery bikes to park and wait for their next job.

I painted directly in watercolour, and added some detail in pen. That's my excuse for the wonky windows anyway. It is getting cooler in Dublin and it takes forever for watercolour to dry. And I tend to work very wet, so there were plenty of watercolour magic, otherwise known as happy accidents.