SKETCHING AT COMPTON CASTLE AGAIN
Another afternoon at Compton Castle. This time I actually got inside the gates! I thought it would be a doddle drawing the front elevation of the Castle but it turned out to be very complicated, with lots of “ins and outs” and little bits of roof and turret etc. Again, I wasn’t completely satisfied with the results. I tried really hard initially to get the proportions and distances correct by marking the paper with small dots and to start with it looked OK as I mapped out the roof line, but I soon realised that quite a few adjustments had to be made.
By the time we left, it looked a bit of a mess but I have improved it with the addition of some darker values with a thicker pen, and this has covered up the mistakes to a certain extent.
My reference photo.
I took this at the end of the session and I had to edit it quite a bit in my photo editor when we got home, because it was right into the sun. I couldn’t see at all what I was photographing so I just pointed and pressed and hoped for the best, and this was the best of quite a large collection (many of which also featured my thumb!). I zoomed in and cropped it and it was the best I could do.
When I started, I was further over to the right and had a slightly more full-face view, but as the afternoon progressed, my patch of shade under the trees shrank and I had to keep moving or I’d have been roasted alive. It was very hot indeed.
My drawing
Not one of my best efforts, I’m afraid.
My hubby sketched much closer to the Castle, from inside the courtyard, and several of the volunteers came out and watched what he was doing. His view was a lot less complicated and he did a much better job than me! The volunteers sought me out and were very kind with their compliments although I wasn’t happy with it.
Three of the volunteers were wearing period costume and kindly allowed me to photograph them and upload the photos. The first two were in Mediaeval costume and were feeling the heat – the poor man said his boots were fur-lined! I loved the costumes and was interested in their construction and embellishments.
A little later the other volunteer came out, having been told by her colleagues where I was. She was dressed in Tudor costume.
I was particularly interested in this, having made my own version a few years ago for a Tudor banquet at another National Trust house down in Cornwall. In both cases, the main part of the gown was made from old curtains! This brocade fabric works very well for costumes like this.
Another lovely afternoon outing, sketching together.
