I was to look for statues that interest me and as I very often look for beauty in unusual subjects I immediately thought of a place where there always are unusual statues – in the corner of Trafalgar Square nearest to the Sainsbury’s wing of the National Gallery. Many contemporary artists have temporary displays of sculpture there, so on a recent trip to the National Gallery I found one I liked.
The statue is called Really Good by David Shringles, a very unusual and interesting one which made me laugh – a big hand placed very high up, so quite challenging because of the foreshortening. I did some sketches and took some photographs, and did my final work at home in charcoal in my A4 sketchbook.
I found my second statue in Fleet town centre. There aren’t many statues around Fleet but I found an interesting one in the town square in front of the Harlington Centre made from a dead chestnut tree by chainsaw carver Rod Beckinsale. This one is not quite as large as Really Good, but certainly not small either, representing the various activities in the Harlington (books, music, dancing etc). For my drawing I used sepia and charcoal pencil on A4 cartridge paper in my sketchbook, and though the proportions of my drawing are a bit too narrow I think I managed to capture a sense of 3D.
