SKETCHING IN THE COURTYARD AT DARTINGTON
Today we revisited Dartington Hall to do some more sketching. It was still very hot, but there was also a nice fresh breeze which made things more bearable. We each found a shady spot in the courtyard to sit. This time I sketched part of the west wing of the courtyard which is mostly accommodation. This is my reference photo.
There are several of the unusual entrances along the row, structures protruding from the building and each having two doors under a single arch. I love the extra little bit of roof on the left making it asymmetrical. There doesn’t seem to be any particular reason for this design and I’ve never seen it anywhere else. I have always found these arches quite delightful.
This long building is on the right as you enter the courtyard through the main archway. There is a spacious lawn between the west and east wings. I drew one of the buildings in the east wing on a previous occasion, and have been looking forward to tackling the other side.
Here is my drawing.
I got the proportions slightly better this time, but it’s not perfect – I always seem to squash things from side to side! I shall keep practising!
On previous sketching outings we have had lunch out, but decided that an average of £80 for a meal for two was a bit excessive to indulge in every time, so this time we took sandwiches. We sat in the picnic area and found a shady spot near a large tree. This tree had several branches that seemed to be dead, and which were absolutely covered with beautiful lichens.
I picked up several of the lichen covered twigs that had fallen from the tree, and a small cluster of leaves. When we came home, I discovered that this tree is a sessile oak – a native English oak but somewhat different from the normal one. I shall be doing a post about the twigs and leaves in a future post when I have had a chance to draw them. I also picked up some further treasures.
Talking of treasures, here is a particular one for my friend Caroline on the ArtKula forum – the Traffic Cone Queen! She loves traffic cones and often draws them so each time I see one, I tend to think of her!
There was a Shakespeare production going on in the Private Garden while we were having our lunch and we could hear a lot of drumming and shouting! It all sounded great fun. Another couple came and sat with us in the shade to eat their lunch and we had great fun with them – nice alternative people, elderly but dressed in gorgeous bright colours! Very TQ9. (This is the Totnes postcode which includes Dartington. We used to live in the TQ9 area and it was with great regret that we moved to a different TQ postcode area. I am definitely a TQ9-er at heart!)
We returned to the courtyard to complete our drawings and met an old friend from years ago whom we had not seen for about 10 years (she’s another TQ9-er despite originally coming from the Netherlands!). Lovely to catch up. We then returned home, hot and weary. Worth it, though! A great day out.
