A lovely intricate Victorian street lamp outside Waverley Station. So delicate and inspiring, I love noticing such creativity on the streets of the city. Have you noticed this one when on your way to catch the train? or as you first arrive in the capital perhaps.
Drawn with a dipping pen on some gorgeous watercolour paper offcut I had lying around.
This beautiful Victorian building is on Princes Street. I have ignored the bottom floor as it is a recently closed, boarded up shop.
It is such a shame that rinces Street is looking so tired just now, a mixture of closed shops, discount stores and mobile phone clones. But look above the ground floor eyeline and there are some beautiful architectural details.
Like this tall building which lies opposite the Scottish National Gallery. Dating back to the late 1800s I believe it was originally a tea room and would be lovely brought back to its glory days.
I would love to see more independent shops on Princes Street, original and different enough to bring shoppers back to the high street.
These steps at the top of Easter Road where once a twice daily sight for me as I walked to and from work. I love the iron work and the fact they are hidden away at the bottom on a dead end street.
Just by the previous primary school, which is now Abbeymount Studios, these steps lead up from West Norton Place to Melrose Terrace, providing a small short cut from Easter Road into Abbeyhill.
I have walked the street in all weathers and t all times of the year, but this week I drove up the road and sat to draw this sketch in the warmth!
You can buy a signed print of this sketch HERE
My new set of Victorian Edinburgh Cycle themed postcards are now available to buy in my online shop.I have been planning this set of cards for some time so am pleased to see them printed and available to buy. This time last year I was asked to run a sketching table at the National Museum of Scotland and their Museum Lates event which was Victorian themed to tie in to their display all about photography since its origins in the Victorian era.
I was so inspired by the portraits and landscapes from the time I thought it would be great to try and sketch some Victorian scenes of Edinburgh, and I have always been a fan of including bicycles in my drawings. The lines and circles just appeal to me 🙂
So here are the resulting pieces from researching photographs of Edinburgh streets, clothing and bicycles being ridden at the time.
We have a young woman cycling through West Port, another circling the fountain in Princes Street Gardens and a smart gentleman riding a penny farthing along Princes Street. Bottom left sees a librarian delivering books on Hanover Street, a chap pushing his bike though the Meadows and finally a cycle race down the Royal Mile into Canongate.
Each of the A6 (105x148mm) cards is decorated with a backing design to mimic postcards of the time, with room for your message and senders address.
These postcards will retail around town for around £1.00-£1.20 each but you can buy a pack of all six designs from my online shop for just £5.00 plus postage and packaging.
Buy a pack of postcards on through my shop website
This week I visited the current exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland in Chambers Street, Edinburgh.‘Photography: A Victorian Sensation’ runs until November 22 and chronicles the birth of photography, from early shadows on a copper plate with the pioneering inventors, Louis Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot through the hugely popular stereoscopic photography to self developing your own film in a dark room like I was taught at college. Which of course now has been succeeded by the instant and simple digital photography we all use today.
Indeed many of you may not remember having to put your spent film in at the chemist and waiting a day or two for your photographs to be developed. I am thankful for the ease of taking a photo now and having it instantly available to share on line or use for work, but I also remember the excitement of picking up photos with my mum and looking through, reliving the event a week later!
The exhibition runs until November 22nd and is well worth and hour or two to see the wonderful portraits taken not that long ago, when photography was scene as magical, amazing and life changing.
My two sketches were drawn in black ink at the exhibition and then coloured later with a water colour wash.
National Museum of Scotland website
Edinburgh city centre is currently bursting with Hogmanay and Christmas decorations, stages are being erected, shows and markets light up the night sky and fill the air with screams of laughter.
The Royal Mile remains relatively untouched but take a glimpse through one if its many closes which point down towards the New Town then you can see the sparkling lights below.
This sketch is Lady Stair’s Close which leads from the Royal Mile to The Mound, I love the Victorian lights combined with the touch of Christmas, the big wheel on Princes Street.
Have a great Hogmanay folks, wrap up warm and be safe 🙂
‘A walk not far from home I turned a street corner to find this beautiful Victorian lamp post. Bright green and standing out in a street of more modern homes. But can you tell me where this is? Another hidden gem from Edinburgh’s suburbs. Do you recognise the green lamp post?’
