Delicate drawings around St Mary Church

Friday the 11th we took a walk as a group to Fratton once again. We practiced a method of drawing called Delicate Drawing; observe your surroundings for 2 minutes, taking every thing in from the colours, shapes, similarities or lack there of, and even sounds. Then close your eyes and draw from memory for 5 minutes. The trick is, from my experience, is to trust the pen. The darker the better as contrast gives it more of an oomph. Let the pen loose and draw as if you're tracing the view in front of you.

It's a liberating act as we usually tend to focus on what we're drawing and get lost in the details not noticing the beauty that is in the bigger picture.

In the figure shown is my first attempt at it from the side perspective. I tried capturing the linked lines in the columns, arches, ceiling lines and the vaults details wrapping around me in an architectural beauty.

Figure 1: Delicate drawing from the back seats of St Mary Church, pen on paper

Noting the sounds, shapes, and adding the rest of the image to make it "full". Feel free to look at the details added as I discovered them after opening my eyes. It is a meditation method in a way, emptying the brain of thoughts and focusing on the now.

My second attempt at it, shown in figure 2, was from a different point of view facing the bird statue and the rest of the seating arrangements.

Figure 2: Delicate drawing from the front of St Mary Church facing the front seats, pen on paper

We ended the day observing the site and its surroundings. Shown on the grid below; The main stand where the choir perform, wall details around the area that seems added later on, the outside court area where the community walks their dogs, or perhaps, the dog helps their caretaker take a walk in fresh air for a change. Occasionally hunting down squirrels, pigeons and anything smaller than it.