Tag Archives: shopping

Tigers in Morningside

New opportunities in Morningside as Paper Tiger stretches out a paw southwards.

There is a new bright and colourful addition to Morningside Road on the corner of Springvalley Gardens. Gift shop and Edinburgh destination Paper Tiger has been selling beautifully designed, unique and quirky gifts and stationary from the West End since 1981, and has now opened its third store in Morningside’s busy shopping district.

I remember visiting their West End shop, spending ages looking around the basement full of wonder and creativity. And I was so glad to become a stockist there when EdinburghSketcher took over my full time work almost ten years ago.

Now I am equally excited to have my gift cards and other printed items in Morningside. It is great news to see a local business doing well and I look forward to sketching more scenes of the Southside for the new shop.

https://www.papertiger.co.uk/

Social distance sketching

Catching the ques in watercolour outside the shops in the sunshine.

With the shops beginning to open again after Lock Down there is lots of queing to be done as we still need to keep our 2 metre distance from each other.

Today I was queing outside a DIY shop in Craigleith, Edinburgh and while standing in the sun caught this view of the people in front of me.

I only had a limited pallet as I ran out of water to rinse my brush but I quite like the limitations, and how that causes colours to link to each other and make the piece more illustrative.

Remember to use your queing time well, dont get frustrated and instead accept that this is how it is for now, and why not doodle your time away!

WhereArtI : 14th November 2016 : Edinburgh

es_wai141116Can you tell me where in Edinburgh I have sketched today?

If so click the link below to email me your answer. I will pick a random winner from all correct answers on Tuesday morning, and they will go on to the ‘Winners wall’. At the end of the month those on the wall will be entered into a draw to receive a prize.


The prize for November is Afternoon Tea for two in the Mercure Hotel on Princes Street during Decemeber, overlooking the wonderful Christmas festivities in Edinburgh city centre. 

Enjoy a perfect selection of culinery delights during your Christmas shopping this year at the ideally situated Mercure Hotel on Edinburgh’s Princes Street.

 

Click HERE to enter your answer

Usually the answer will be within the Edinburgh boundaries, but on the first Monday of the month the competition is Scotland wide. Keep an eye on my facebook and twitter feed throughout the day for clues if they are needed.

I hope you join us to play along and keep looking up and noticing the details of Edinburgh, you never know where I will be sketching next time!

Enter via the link above or email contact@www.edinburghsketcher.com with the subject line ‘WhereArtI 7th November 2016’.

Mercure Hotel website

New Waverley Arches open on a sunny evening in May

TheArches_bannerMudoThe 19 newly renovated Victorian arches on East Market Street are now open and ready to serve, so I went for a stroll along Edinburgh’s newest shopping district.

TheArches_fromNorthBridgePart of the £150 million New Waverley development which is transforming part of the Old Town, the Arches have been opened up and filled with some fantastic independent businesses, each of which deserve to be discovered.

TheArches_fromJeffreyStreetI was invited to come along and sketch the launch party last week and these are my sketches from the evening. As you can see from the sketch above the lights from each arch can be seen from high up on North Bridge. If there descend the Scotsman Hotel steps onto Market Street and then head under the bridge to find the first of 19 Arches which increase in height the further down the cobbled street you venture.

The arches date back to 1875 and were traditionally used for storage areas and have never before been accessible to the public.

The retail outlets combine fashion, beauty, eating and drinking, as well as an art gallery where you can find some of my work. See my sketch below of some of the items I gathered on a walk about!

 

For more information follow @archesnw on twitter and visit East Market Street this weekend to meet the traders!

 

Sketches all drawn on location in ink and watercolour.

TheArches_goodsTheArches_street

Saying farewell to the dinosaurs at Ocean Terminal shopping centre.

Dinosaurs_WrappedUpYesterday I was in the Ocean Terminal shopping centre when I noticed these three dinosaurs wrapped up against the Scottish weather.

I was on my way to a meeting but had to sketch these three model dinosaurs which had (with many others) been entertaining the shoppers over Easter. Wrapped in plastic covers and looking out to see they reminded me of the many tourists arriving in the city to our wonderful Scottish weather!

 

Wrap up warm today everyone, and come back soon dinosaurs!!

 

I seem to be following these dinosaurs around Edinburgh, HERE is my sketch of what I presume are the same models at Edinburgh Zoo.

 

The sketch above is drawn in my A5 sketchpad, with a fineliner pen 0.5, with a watercolour wash over the top. 

Head to Ocean Terminal for beautiful original artwork at the Scottish Design Exchange

SDEdisplay_280116Yesterday I was restocking at the Scottish Design Exchange in Leith’s Ocean Terminal shopping centre.

After a busy Christmas for the relatively new art gallery and all round creative hub that is SDE is was good to take a step back and freshen up the shelves, adding a few new lines, such as this puffin illustration available as an A4 mounted print for £28.

ES_PuffinsOnCliff

 

The not for profit shop concept, by founder Linzy Leroy is to bring artists and designers together to share a retail space that benefits the community. Proving a great success, and still in its first year, the super location in Ocean Terminal provides a retail outlet for many independent designers and makers that wouldn’t usually have access to sell on the high street.

 

I love the idea and the community of creatives that is being built there. Get along yourself and have a look around, there is some truly original pieces to see, perfect for a bespoke gift, for a friend or yourself!

 

Ocean Terminal has plenty of free parking and is on the bus route for numbers 11, 22, 34, 35.

 

 

The Scottish Design Exchange website

 

Edinburgh screen printed 100% cotton bags

2cottonbagscrop
On 20th October a 5 pence tax on all shopping bags came into force in Scotland. Perfect time to invest in an Edinburgh Sketcher cotton bag.

 

Afternoon Edinburgh, I hope you are all well and enjoying the sunshine, albeit with a cold wind too. Here are my latest additions to my online shop. 100% cotton bags screen printed with two EdinburghSketcher designs.

 

The first is a cropped version of The Shore illustration with the title ‘Leith’, screen printed in black and blue ink. I love that the blue ink is called ‘Deacon Blue’. The other design is a cropped version of the popular Victoria Street sketch, in back and purple ink. With the simple ‘Victoria St.’ beneath.

 

You can now buy both UK made cotton bags from my shop for £9.50 each plus £2 pnp. They will soon be available around the capital so look out for them on the streets of Edinburgh. They fold up very small, perfect to fit into your hand bag or back pack, ensuring you won’t be caught out next time you get to the till!

 

Below are the original sketches and links to the corresponding posts.

VictoriaStreet

TheShore

I’m going in…

Yesterday afternoon I was sat in Ikea car park out at Straiton retail park on the South East side of Edinburgh. The twins were sleeping in the back and I was sketching away delaying the inevitable fight through the crowds to do a little shopping before Christmas.

I shouldn’t of worried though, it turns out 3pm on a Wednesday afternoon is the perfect time to hit the big blue box and with my family card I get free tea and coffee during the week. Bonus 🙂