I've recently returned from 10 days in Wales and had made a decision not to let the camera take over this time. In the end, due to weather, it did, but 8 of our 10 days I did justice to. I bought a small sketchbook and challenged myself to fill it over the course of the holiday. In the event I managed to complete 65 pages which I guess wasn't bad as I rarely manage half a dozen usually.
This fantastically huge stamp is in the carpark grounds next to the ironworks. It's a challenging shape to draw as it appears to be symmetric but has some odd bits which aren't.
The Balance Tower (below) dominates the site, and its strong shapes and shadows immediately draw the eye.
I had wanted to revisit Blaenarvon Ironworks since discovering it in May, when I only took photographs when we stopped for lunch there. I had tried to draw various elements of the site together into a composite landscape, but with only photo references I knew I needed to spend some time sketching there.
Later, once we had located the hostel we would be staying at, we ventured up the valley to look at the countless waterfalls tumbling down the hillside and I found it difficult to get more than an impression of landscape form, as the Brecon hillsides loomed massively above me. The landscape really daunted me here, as it seemed to be too big to envision.
In the evening, waiting for dinner, I drew the dining room, and distorted the further perspective terribly having made a good start on the foreground window and clock.
I love the layers of archways and circles in the base of the furnaces.
I drew the site from halfway up the imposing balance tower for a bird's eye view. Below is a corner of the workers cottages, some of which have been restored and furnished in various periods of historical occupation on the site.
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