IAS outing to Covent Garden

On a lovely sunny spring day 12 IAS artists and friends met in Covent Garden outside St Paul's Church to sketch. Undeterred by the entertainer in Union Jack boxer shorts and nipple tassels we settled down to do some serious work. 

Diane Umemoto (an IAS guest) sold a piece, here is what she said: 'We were sitting at a café opposite the musicians so we could enjoy the music while sketching and eating. Ann chatted up the fellow sitting at the next table while I was off somewhere, and he offered to buy the chalk painting she'd just begun. Since it "wasn't ready yet," she turned him down. We all had lunch, Ann returned to her drawing. When the fellow got up to leave, he asked if he could buy my sketch. "Huh? Well, okay." [Ann's always saying, Well, that's what we do, isn't it?"] How much? "Uh, twenty?" Hmm. Ten? "Okay, fifteen." We figured out how to cut it out of the big sketchbook - and put our earnings toward lunch!'

There was a lot of activity, many tourists, entertainers including a uni-cyclist, opera singers, serious musicians and of course outdoor café culture and markets. It was great fun, very colourful, with a choice of architecture or people as subject matter, very amusing and certainly not quiet. We met up at lunch time to show our work and compare notes. 

The next outing will be to the horse sculptures in Goodman's Fields near Aldgate. Details will be posted on the blog shortly.