Ireland Sketches Part 4

And then we were en route to our next stop, Bandon, stopping on the way at Bantry House, another grand Manor House, where we ran into Marc Taro Holmes on the hill behind the “house” doing a breathtaking painting including the house, the formal gardens, the sea and mountains beyond!  How do you do it Marc?

I picked a more contained subject to practice perspective and vignetting. The stable/carriage houses on either side of the gardens offered some great spots and the sky offered a bit of sun at moments to read shadow shapes.

Another Carriage House view with an antique pram.

Next day we spent some time in the colorful seaside town of Kinsale, a favorite of tourists. The dock we could access was far from the boats and frequented by families with gull-feeding children and noisy rooks. So the sketch became a story, which I suppose all of my travel sketches are.

We had lunch in this colorful plaza area where a young violinist was playing. The Irish lady next to me showed great interest in my sketch and soon was pointing out omissions and giving directions.

You see, the hand and bow was moving as were other parts, and I was waiting to get a better look rather than guessing, but this was disturbing to her. Finally I added the bow and, of course thanked her graciously for her help.

Our last two nights in Ireland were spent in a historic B + B in Trim, across the street from Trim castle (whose claim to fame is the filming of Braveheart!) in the beautiful Boyne River area west of Dublin. As usual we feasted at the local restaurant, enjoying the wall art of humorous quotes.

We spent our last day in Ireland touring the Passage Tombs of Newgrange and Knowth dating back to 4000 B.C. This picture was taken while standing on one of the larger ones looking down on one of the smallest. We were able to go inside the Newgrange passage where the light at winter solstice has illumined the passage for 6000 years. The megalithic art forms cast their spell and I had meant to sketch more, but finally drew some just to remember the extraordinary day of retracing history and experiencing the awe of human nature touching the divine.

Next: Manchester, England and the International Symposium of Urban Sketchers