Please keep this seat empty. That’s what we found on all the benches when we went back into town after the first lockdown. This was to discourage people to meet with those they don’t live with and sit close.
Bench Views Revisited No. 137 September 2020
I write various things on the back of the illustrations. Each one’s got a mini map of the bench where it was drawn from and sometimes there more information. This one’s got something I overheard “Look Mum! She’s doing art!”. When I heard that I laughed and thought yes, I’m doing art and it felt wonderful, it always does.
My theme for A to Z Blogging Challenge is my Bench Views Revisited illustrations done from benches in and around Peterborough UK which I started in September 2019. I drew No. 88 in February 2020 then lockdown hit. I restarted the series in August 2020 which meant almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and the rest of the 190 illustrations were done post COVID-19 lockdown.
I couldn’t tell you if their personal protective equipment was orange or yellow but I seem to have painted it orange so have used this illustration for today. This is another bench from Long Causeway and I think there was only one or two street cleaners. Sometimes when people are moving in front of me they end up being drawn more than once into the same scene. In this case I think there were two people but it could have been one, definitely no more than two that were included in this Bench View Revisited.
I’ve noticed that they’re so obvious in their bright clothes yet the rest of us tend not to notice them as they efficiently pass across our view doing their essential work keeping our streets clean of our rubbish. Over the years I’ve had to concentrate when they’re around and work extra fast to include them in my drawings or they’ve moved on.
Bench Views Revisited No. 47 september 2019
“Get my good side” and “How about an art day?” were comments made to me by the workers as I sketched the end of the first 50. Each set of 50 seems to feel a bit different. I knew this time that I still had a long way to go. I had no idea what was coming though as this was months before the first COVID-19 lockdown.
My theme for A to Z Blogging Challenge is my Bench Views Revisited illustrations done from benches in and around Peterborough UK which I started in September 2019. I drew No. 88 in February 2020 then lockdown hit. I restarted the series in August 2020 which meant almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and the rest of the 190 illustrations were done post COVID-19 lockdown.
When we were allowed back out there were signs everywhere in Peterborough and presumably many other cities reminding people to stay two metres apart for social distancing. In Peterborough many of the signs said Nice 2metres you. I thought that was a very obvious yet subtle, clever message.
Bench Views Revisited No.99 August 2020
Something drew me to painting this with stronger colours than I usually do. Gone is the ‘parisienne’ feel that some say I give to Peterborough in many of my bench views. Now I’m working my way through so many illustrations which were drawn and not painted, I’ve noticed the style of final colours and choices of decoration depend on my mood and probably also the weather. It’s creating a series which is rather different, to me, than the original Bench Views I painted 2014/15 when many of those were finished in situ.
Every now and then there’s an image which captures peoples imagination. This one seems to be one of those. I showed it at open studios last year and got great feedback. Not sure what you’ll think of it. If you’re not aware, Peterborough’s got three of Anthony Gormley’s statues which pose on rooftops these days and one of them makes an appearance here. As do I actually.. I love it when I realise I can add my reflection in while I draw.
My theme for A to Z Blogging Challenge is my Bench Views Revisited illustrations done from benches in and around Peterborough UK which I started in September 2019. I drew No. 88 in February 2020 then lockdown hit. I restarted the series in August 2020 which meant almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and the rest of the 190 illustrations were done post COVID-19 lockdown.
Peterborough Market’s been moved before and it’s currently in the middle of another upheaval. It was always a haven for me when I was drawing and I loved lots of the stalls over the years which, at times, kept me in flowers, provided those pieces of haberdashery I couldn’t find elsewhere or the baking tin I needed, at times when I worked nearer it provided my daily lunch from the foodstalls which sprung up during a previous reconfiguration.
Markets change as life and needs change. Some of the stalls moved then survived or not and others are in the process of restarting. Change can often be difficult and we still don’t know how this one is going to pan out. I’ve always loved markets and hope Peterborough manage to keep that market feeling somehow, somewhere.
Bench Views Revisited No.10 August 2019
This illustration was drawn from one of the two yellow benches which used to be there and I can recall meeting a photographer the first time I sat and drew from here. He was trying to get me in one of his iconic images as I was tring to draw the market. In the end I drew him photographing me drawing him into my sketch. I’ll have to go find that one again now. As photographs trigger memories all of my drawings do the same, the memory of the place, when I was drawing it and any previous drawings from that same bench. This Market is now a changing space and we will all have our own views and different memories of it.
My theme for A to Z Blogging Challenge is my Bench Views Revisited illustrations done from benches in and around Peterborough UK which I started in September 2019. I drew No. 88 in February 2020 then lockdown hit. I restarted the series in August 2020 which meant almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and the rest of the 190 illustrations were done post COVID-19 lockdown.
Long Causeway is a street in the middle of Peterborough, UK.
The first time I sat on the benches in and around peterborough, where I walked to work and shopped, I can remember finishing them or so I thought and a friend at work said they’re doing it to annoy you. I said ‘doing what?’ and they told me that lots more benches were b eing put into Lond Causeway. It’s a strange place for me to judge what is a bench and what is a bench view as lots of the benches don’t have backs and are curved so you can sit facing both ways and in all sorts of directions.
Bench Views Revisited No.48 September 2019
This is a typical example of things we chose to leave out. Those few lines in the background right side of the drawing was lots of buildings. I wanted to focus on the signs and benches and the electric wheelchairs which whizzed passed.
My theme for A to Z Blogging Challenge is my Bench Views Revisited illustrations done from benches in and around Peterborough UK which I started in September 2019. I drew No. 88 in February 2020 then lockdown hit. I restarted the series in August 2020 which meant almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and the rest of the 190 illustrations were done post COVID-19 lockdown.
Keep Left. Keep 2 metres apart. Keep caring for Peterborough. Those are all sentences that can be found in my Bench Views Revisited illustrations. Mainly from the illustrations done after March 2020. When lockdown hit March 2020 I stopped going out and drawing and didn’t restart till August later that year.
Bench Views Revisited were supposed to be completed in a year as the first benche views had been, well almost. When I started the revisited versions I was so excited to be spending the next year drawing at my leisure, sort of for a year and hopefully completing each sketch in situ as much as I could. By the end of February 2020 I’d got to No 88 and knew I still had well over a hundred more to do. Lockdown hit and I became a home worker without access to my beloved bench views.
Even when I could have gone out I didn’t want to and it wasn’t till August 2020 when I met a friend for a coffee in town that I did another illustration. Keep is such a good word as it can also refer to keep going, keep positive, keep creating, keep drawing, keep having fun, keep smiling and many other positive affirmations which I often tell myself if I think I’m about to give up on something. Thankfully I didn’t give up on my Bench Views Revisited and during August 2020 I drew rather a lot. I’m sure I’ll talk more about that later in the AtoZ.
Bench Views Revisited No.103 August 2020
Whoever was responsible for the signage in town during 2020 did a great job I think. As our behaviour changed with time so did the messages. I started writing the messages into the illustrations so I could remember what they said. Previously I’ve put notes on the back of the drawings with notes of what I overheard but I was overhearing less now so I focussed on the writing I saw on the noticeboards which were cleverly placed if you sat for long enough to read them.
When I look at this illustration I’m taken with the bench. It’s not got a sign on it. I’m sure it would have had and maybe in the process and with time gone by I could have missed it, I painted it 11 April, 2022 nearly 20 months after drawing it. Is it really that long ago? Time seems to have morphed since early 2020. It’s most strange. I hope you like how I chose to paint this and focus on the messages rather than the scene.
My theme for A to Z Blogging Challenge is my Bench Views Revisited illustrations done from benches in and around Peterborough UK which I started in September 2019. I drew No. 88 in February 2020 then lockdown hit. I restarted the series in August 2020 which meant almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and the rest of the 190 illustrations were done post COVID-19 lockdown.
Even during tough times sitting looking at a bank of bright pink geraniums makes me smile and get energy and enthusiasm for life. This post could be jolly or joyful.
I’ve said before that sometimes if I’m doing a number of drawings from a place i found myself playing with the drawing and what was in front of me and perhaps doing a contour of what was there to hint at the objects rather than depict them. This was one of those drawings. I’d wanted to finish the series by 28 August 2020 but that didn’t happen. I was sat here on 8 September 2020 and drawing as many as I could each day.
Bench Views Revisited No.163 September 2020
I think this was the fourth drawing I did on the same day from benches near each other all facing the same way and I was planning to keep going after this, so it’s not surprising I chose to not depict what was in front of me in the way I usually did. I was being playful and enjoying the colour of the flowers. What a wonderful year to have chosen to plant the bright pink geraniums in Bishops Gardens. Perfect for when I sat there after one of the lockdowns to finish my illustrations from benches. Thankyou to whoever made that decision.
My theme for A to Z Blogging Challenge is my Bench Views Revisited illustrations done from benches in and around Peterborough UK which I started in September 2019. I drew No. 88 in February 2020 then lockdown hit. I restarted the series in August 2020 which meant almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and the rest of the 190 illustrations were done post COVID-19 lockdown.
I hope I’ve got something for V. Ahh yes I have something for V so it’s ok that I’ve used the visitor information centre image for I.
Bench Views Revisited No.60 October 2019
Looking at the image before finishing it I can see I’ve got some people in a bit of a strange place, I’m not sure I got my perspectives clear when I sketched it. Hopefully you’re looking at a well laid out finished illustration.
My theme for A to Z Blogging Challenge is my Bench Views Revisited illustrations done from benches in and around Peterborough UK which I started in September 2019. I drew No. 88 in February 2020 then lockdown hit. I restarted the series in August 2020 which meant almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and the rest of the 190 illustrations were done post COVID-19 lockdown.
Sometimes I don’t want to draw a full illustration. Something happens in front of me which draws my eye. Maybe I’ve already done a load of drawings from the same place and don’t want to draw the architecture again that day, who knows. it’s different every time I sit to draw.
Bench Views Revisited No. 38 September 2019
This day it was hot and there were children playing in the water fountains in Cathedral Square in Peterborough. Alongside the children were some pigeons also cooling down. Lying on the floor they were alternating their wings under the splashes of water from the fountains. I couldn’t help but try to capture the moment. Because I’ve not really included the pavement stones you might imagine the birds are flying in a weird way to cool down with the water.
My theme for A to Z Blogging Challenge is my Bench Views Revisited illustrations done from benches in and around Peterborough UK which I started in September 2019. I drew No. 88 in February 2020 then lockdown hit. I restarted the series in August 2020 which meant almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and the rest of the 190 illustrations were done post COVID-19 lockdown.
There’s a few things that were around at the beginning of me drawing the Bench Views Revisited which weren’t there after lockdown when I revisited town to finish the series of drawing from the benches. The Market Car Park was one of them. It has now been pulled down and the Market has been closed and partially moved.
Bench Views Revisited No.11 August 2019
This was drawn from one of the benches inside the Market which I can’t now access as the whole area’s closed. Next time I draw the Bench Views it will be all change around here and I don’t know what benches will be available to sit on or draw from.
My theme for A to Z Blogging Challenge is my Bench Views Revisited illustrations done from benches in and around Peterborough UK which I started in September 2019. I drew No. 88 in February 2020 then lockdown hit. I restarted the series in August 2020 which meant almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and the rest of the 190 illustrations were done post COVID-19 lockdown.
lynnelives 