Big Artistic Ambitions

Sometimes your artistic ambitions are larger than your sketchbook, this is one such case! While out walking and looking for something to sketch in Franconia the weather took a turn for the worse and I was forced to take shelter in a wee bus stop, looked up and spied this fabulous tower and roof. 

The building was a school and a village town hall and was built mid 19th C. The beam construction was quite complicated and the sunshine in this photo set in when I had finished (typical!) making squinting to see exactly what was where quite tricky. Done in about 35 mins with a brush pen, pigment liner and my trusty old watercolours. Truth of the matter was there was enough water dreeping from above that normal brushes wouldn’t have been a problem but I do find my brush pen practical when out and about, although the small resealable bottles you get in hotels with shower gel or shampoo in them are also handy when sketching out and about, fill with a splodge of water and into your bag they go. (Best check that they don't leak beforehand) Not too heavy either. 

Before I had to run for shelter I found another object of interest that is very popular in Bavaria, the local crib! 

These cribs are to be found all over Bavaria; large, with life-sized figures and often wearing traditional costumes they tell the story of the nativity, often, as in this case from the Annunciation to the birth of Christ. The figures are dressed and repositioned according to the scene they portray throughout advent and can very from simple to spectacular, sometimes even with real animals!