...town hall, town square, town where?...

Pen & Ink commission work very much in progress... 

'Downham Market Town Hall' at Festival time - pen & ink

When asked by client to Kelly Todd to reprise my original 'face on' drawing of Downham Market Town Hall at festival time - only this time to include the sideways perspective - I naturally said yes. I'd drawn the hall, the square and the famous clocktower several times in the past - including Captain Downham and Mr Fentastic - so why not?

Preliminary pencil sketches featuring the Clocktower.

I'd emailed Kelly photos of the Town Hall from a variety of views so that she could decide which appealed to her the most. Having scheduled a site meeting on a rainy Saturday afternoon, as we stood in the archway of the Swan pub looking across the square - I'm sure the conversation went like something like this - 

me - '...so how do you like the look of the Town Hall from here?' 

Kelly - '...I really like it, particularly the way we can see the side of    the Town Hall...' 

me - '...Great - I agree...' 

Kelly - '...I'm thinking, although it wasn't part of the original brief, maybe it would be nice to include the Clocktower...' 

me - '...sure, why not...?' 

Kelly - '...and maybe the fountain as well...' 

Preliminary pencil sketch of Town Square.

You guessed it - this is where I went into overdrive... 

me - '...OK, I can see the sense in that. I think we should extend our view so that we can provide the appropriate environment for those landmarks. By adding the buildings to the left of the square - William Brown and Johnsons Cleaners, and the shops to the right as they recede from Key-Lets at the front down Bridge street passed the Crown Inn and into the distance, we can draw the viewer into the square, past the various foreground, middle and background elements, and create a complete experience. 

Kelly Todd's Town Square, in historic Downham Market - pencil and pen & ink...

Kelly - '...that sounds great...' 

me - '...I think it's going to be a longer and larger commission than expected though...' 

Kelly - '...that's OK, do you know what would be really great...?' 

me - '...'

Kelly - '...if as in your previous drawing, you could include the festival flags...?' 

me - '...no problem, another element to make the finished drawing more interesting and enhance the feeling of perspective...' 

So in the space of a few minutes an A3 commission of the Town Hall grew into a pen and ink drawing of the entire square just over twice the size - including Bridge St. 

I always like a challenge. 

Watch this space to see how an A6 pencil sketch grew into an architectural drawing and finally a pen and ink illustration!