White Cliffs of Dover: “Chalk of the Town”

 
Dover Cliffs sketch
“Chalk of the Town”, by Kerry McFall

 Every craftsperson knows you need the right tool for the right job.  In this case, I had the wrong tool (one pencil) handy for the wrong sketchbook (this Moleskine paper doesn’t like watercolor and I knew I would want to add color later), but I had 20 minutes in a sheltered bus stop and an oppurtunity to sketch for 15 minutes.  So you have to take my word that the dazzling white chalk cliffs, as seen between the bus shelter wall and the freeway sign, are reallly iceberg white, just like in the postcards!  I added a bit of colored pencil to highlight the blue skies, but it’s not quite right…  The real reason for the sketch, however, was the name of the pub I could just barely see down in the town, “The Chalk of the Town” – I wonder how old that pub was?

And speaking of pubs, I finally did manage to finish the sketch of the O’Neill Pub in Muswell Hill.  Also done on the wrong paper, I just kept at this one and finally, after a lot of “scrubbing” with the paint brushes, it took the paint.  And just so you don’t think I’m nuts having used those unlikely colors, I’m posting photos below as well:

sketch

"O'Neill Pub, Musewell Hill", mixed media, by Kerry McFall

 The building, according to the waitress who wasn’t sure why anyone would care, thought it had been built around the mid-1800;s as a Presbyterian Church. She did say that the accoustics were incredible, though, and that we should come back on Friday night for some live music.  Dang, we were on our way elsewhere by then…

 pub interior

"It Doesn't Get Any Better", by Kerry McFall