Stern Grove

Not far from our flat is the park called Stern Grove, and we went there a few months ago for some sketching. I’ve finally finished and scanned the left-handed sketches from that day.

Stern_Grove_Troc

At one end of this long narrow park is a dog paradise, full of people walking their pooches. In the middle is the band shell used in music festivals, and down the other end of the park it is quiet beneath the almost permanent shade of the trees, where we set up to draw.

Stern_Grove_pondOne quirk of this place is that it is always a few degrees cooler there than just two streets away. Normally, our neighbourhood is already foggy and cool, and consequently Stern Grove would be a chilly place to draw, but the weather this year has been sunny most of the time, and on the day we were there it was quite pleasant.

The pretty building that I drew (above) can be hired as an event space (I looked into using it once myself). I was also taken with a  little pond nearby, and the subdued lighting all around with the sky reflections on the water being the primary light source. With the watercolours, I was enjoying trying out a limited palette of blue and brown with just a smidge of green here and there.

26 thoughts on “Stern Grove”

    • Thanks. Though looking at it now, I think i need to darken the foliage in the 2nd pic so that there is more contrast with the brightness of the water. I may add an extra wash of blue later.

    • Peter, thanks. I have a way to go till I am pro-fast again, but I’m happy with how the pics are looking at least. My next art project is to get back into cartoons.

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