Michael Gage

L'homme qui est resté: In the Place des Vosges. A beautiful square, but perhaps less suitable for sketching, because there were so many people here.


A guideline for including people in sketches: If they arrived before you, they are likely to leave before you can draw them; if they arrive after you, they'll probably stay long enough for you to finish. There was a man already sitting on the centre bench when I arrived, busy checking his phone, so I omitted him, expecting him to go soon. Two hours later, when I'd finished, he was still there, still checking his phone.

Ink and watercolour, 42 x 13cm. Click to enlarge.

Dans le jardin: Hidden down a passageway off a busy tourist street in the Marais, I found this garden and community allotments, which satisfied all the criteria for some peaceful drawing: benches to sit on, and away from the crowds.


Ink and watercolour, 42 x 13cm. Click to enlarge.

Retour à Paris: Last time I was here, the Canal St Martin was empty for cleaning. Today, it's full of water again.


Ink and watercolour, 42 x 13cm. Click to enlarge.

Another day out with the Urban Sketchers London in a new and interesting area, around Smithfield Market.



West Smithfield: Did anyone else see the mendicant squirrels running up to passersby, posing with their paws cupped, begging for food?

Spent two hours here, wondering why there were so many people around here that had Scottish accents... not to mention the Americans in tartan caps. When I'd finished, I realised I'd been sitting next to the William "Braveheart" Wallace memorial.



Newgate Street and Old Bailey: Spent so long drawing determinedly drawing every window that before I knew it, it was 4pm, and I'd missed the end-of-day meetup.

Each: Ink and watercolour in Moleskine watercolour album, 42 x 13cm.