Tag Archives: dome

A trip to town, sketchbook in hand

Costa George Street interior copy Yesterday I had a couple of meetings in town and drew from the bus ride into Edinburgh and a lunch break in a beautiful George Street building.

Following on from my previous post about spontaneous sketching I thought draw from my journey on the bus, and with what I had to hand: a pencil and small note book. Sketching on the bus is always a challenge, the constantly changing view, people getting off and on etc.

OnTheBus pencil sketch

But on this occasion thanks to the construction site on Leith Street the number 14 bus was redirected along London Road, which gave me extra time to finish my scribble, below.

Between my first and second meetings I had lunch in Costa on George Street which is well worth a visit to see the wonderful ceiling dome at the back of the store. I believe this was converted from offices but if you know more about the history of this building then do let me know.

The top drawing was sketched in black fineliner and a little watercolour as I sipped my hot chocolate.

Dome sketching from an Edinburgh roof terrace garden

mcewan-hall-from-nms-roof2It is one of my favourite views in Edinburgh, with a 360 degree vista of the city skyline.

If you are visiting the National Museums of Edinburgh on Chambers Street be sure to take the lift and or steps to their roof top terrace for an unparalleled 360 degree view of Scotlands wonderful capital city.

I was visiting to take some photographs of Edinburgh Castle for a new artwork, but whilst there I captured this of the McEwan Hall dome popping up over the terrace wall.

The McEwan Hall is the graduating hall of the University of Edinburgh, and is where I graduated some years ago. The building was presented to the University in 1897 by William McEwan, brewer and politician.

Next time you are on Chambers Street take a look from the top and see if you can name all the steeples and domes of Edinburgh.

National Museums Scotland website

University of Edinburgh website