D R A W I N G II 28

Figure 8: Church of St. Michael Paternoster Royal & Innholders Hall E.C, by Sydney R. Jones, 1927. perspective that captures details of the detailed façade in the foreground, however, upon further inspection, it is clear that the drawing’s use of clair obscur is what is most captivating and communicates the picturesque. It appears as a united picture which was a necessary element of the picturesque. Therefore, this etching is successful in communicating the essence of the place represented.

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Figure 10: London Bridge and Fishmonger’s Hall Historical Map by Author (1924-1951), 2022.

100m N

D R A W I N G III

In contrast to this, another etching by S.R.J is London Bridge and Fishmonger’s Hall which is less striking. Dark and light tones are not as evenly distributed and most of the surface of the picture is of the river Thames, a large water body that represents a space that receives direct light, with areas of shadow between the buildings and underneath arches. The dark tones are towards the centre of the picture’s surface and serve to add detail to the buildings that are affected by shadow, but it is still not as captivating at a glance as the etching of the church of St Michael when it does techically possess some of the same qualities of clairobscur. So why is this?

This mottled scene does not demonstrate clair-obscur as a whole, the drawing is less detailed than the former, elements that might benefit from being shaded are instead drawn with lines and despite the fact this is also a one-point perspective drawing, the image still appears to be flat and lacking depth. The built-up riverside, where Fishmongers hall sits below a lightly etched sky and above an entourage that you would expect on a river scene is lightly etched. Boats, bridge footings and small people are in the foreground. Despite the useful signifying things drawn of the place, the drawing lacks detail and appears as though the information is missing by comparison with the Church of St. Michael.

This is a good example of how a picture can contain instances of light and darkness within it, without them creating a unified whole. Despite its use in the appropriate places, there is a lack of that same level of detail across the entire drawing that leaves the drawing feeling unfinished. This may have been done by S.R.J in order to focus the reader on the buildings on the other side of the river, this combined with the one-point perspective view that is not very evident may have focused the gaze on the distant bank, however, the lack of detail is unsuccessful in unifying the drawing, communicating the activities of the people in place and is less successful at communicating The Picturesque than former drawings.

Within this drawing, there is a number of components of Gordon Cullen’s Townscape where he describes the experience of the progression through a built-up urban environment. Two key points of this are serial vision, where one’s progression through a space (Town/city) is made up of a number of stills along the journey that affect the viewer by the revelation of the streetscape. The