Cynthia Barlow Marrs SGFA

Espresso Bar at the National Gallery

A few years back I was sipping an Americano at the National Gallery espresso bar. I had just opened my sketchbook when this little group settled at the next table. They seemed to be engaged in a problem solving exercise, and I had the feeling the conversation would continue long after they left.

I was delighted they stayed put long enough to make it into my sketchbook.

Fineliner pen and wash pens in A6 sketchbook
10cm x 29cm

16 November 2021 Jab Joy No. 3 at the vaccination centre

Two days ago I offered an arm for my Covid-19 vaccine booster jab, and as I waited out the 15-minute grace period afterwards, I sketched one of the vaccination centre volunteers and, in the background, the paramedic who gave me my jab. I asked him how many vaccinations he administers in a day — the answer was 70 — and whether this mass vaccination work invades his dreams. He laughed and said he reckoned he could almost do it in his sleep.

Truly the National Health Service is our greatest national treasure. We are so thankful to the NHS, and to all of the volunteers who make the Covid-19 vaccination programme happen.

Original
Pen on Paper
15cm x 20cm

Colossal horse at the British Museum

This fragment of a gigantic horse comes from the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos -- one of my favourite exhibits at the British Museum.

Original
Graphite and ink in 20 x 20 cm sketchbook

Winter café in two inks (detail)

This sketch started out as a hasty line drawing in brown ink as I waited for friends at Côtes Brasserie in Windsor. I developed the sketch further the next day, but the image took on a life of its own: the restaurant has morphed into a seaside café under a moody sky, and the woman on the left has acquired a big waterproof jacket with a turned up collar. The two women are still deep in conversation. I don’t think they noticed a thing.

Black ink and golden-brown ink, a waterbrush and my everyday-carry A6 Seawhite sketchbook.

Original
Ink in sketchbook
10cm x 20cm

My mother reading in a white armchair

March 2019

Original
Fineliner pen and paint marker pens in A6 sketchbook
27cm x 10.5cm

Lunch in Peschiera

Three-way sketching at lunch with friends. We drew on our paper table mats. Something we count on every trip to Italy.

Original
Pen on Paper

BFI Riverside under Waterloo Bridge

January 2019: The BFI (British Film Institute) Southbank is 'the leading repertory cinema in the UK, specialising in seasons of classic, independent and non-English language films.' We were there to see the surreal satire Sorry to Bother You, written and directed by Boots Riley.

Original
Pen and ink in A5 sketchbook
10cm x 29cm

Kew Greenhouse Cafe

Drawn on location: Selected for DRAW 13, the 92nd Annual Open Exhibition of the Society of Graphic Fine Art September - October 2013 at the Menier Gallery in London.

Original
Graphite in square sketchbook
23cm x 23cm
Sold

Waiting room, Wexham Park Hospital

Original
Pen in A6 sketchbook
15cm x 10.5cm

Tea bird

Afternoon tea with Cafe Sketchers at the Tea House Theatre, Vauxhall. This is one of eight illustrations in 'Drawing at the Speed of Life', an eight-page feature about my location drawings published in the Summer 2016 issue of Drawing magazine in the USA. The author is British-American artist and writer John A Parks.

Original
Graphite in A4 Moleskine sketchbook
30cm x 29cm

Brunswick Lion in the Cast Court

Victoria & Albert Museum, London: This is one of eight illustrations in 'Drawing at the Speed of Life', an eight-page feature about my location drawings published in the Summer 2016 issue of Drawing magazine in the USA. The author is British-American artist and writer John A Parks.

Original
Pastel and graphite in sketchbook
20cm x 20cm

One cat, two laps

May 2018: Meet Gus, resident lap cat at The Georgian House B&B in Watchet, Somerset.

Original
Ink and wash in A6 sketchbook
29cm x 10.5cm

Lap cat at The Georgian House, Watchet

May 2018: Gus the resident cat is a dead ringer for Palmerston, Chief Mouser at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London.

Original
Ink and wash in A6 sketchbook
29cm x 10.5cm

Double portrait with triple wardrobe

May 2018: Fountain pen and water brush in Moleskine watercolour sketchbook, over old sketch with loosely brushed undercoat of Chinese white watercolour.

I use this particular sketchbook for sloppy experiments with ink and watercolour. That's why you see dried leaked ink in the gutter and around the page margins. Last year I carried my portable lab-experiment sketchbook to Sloane Square for a day of drawing with Urban Sketchers London. I attempted the stained glass window of Holy Trinity Church in Sloane Street, then turned the page and wandered off to draw something else. This morning when I sketched a domestic scene over the old drawing, the church window turned into a patterned duvet cover.

Original
Ink and wash in sketchbook
13cm x 27cm

The Founders Arms, Bankside

A glorious summer day on the River Thames, with a good view of the Millennium Bridge in the background.

Original
Pen and water brush in A6 sketchbook

The Wallace Collection

April 2017: I stopped by the Wallace Collection in Manchester Square, London for a scone and a bit of sketching. This is the view through the doorway from the Back State Room into the Front State Room. I was surrounded by chiming clocks - charming!

Original
Pen and ink in A6 sketchbook

The Beach at Desenzano, Lake Garda

May 2017: On the last morning we packed our suitcases and claimed a spot on the deserted beach. A lone swimmer set up his chair and umbrella, and a woman stood on a rock gazing across the lake.

Original
Pen and water brush in A6 sketchbook

View from Greenwich

March 2015

Original
Pen and water brush in sketchbook
10.5cm x 29cm

View from Tower 42: The Shard

2013: The view from Tower 42 is one of my most memorable urban landscape encounters. Six hundred feet above London, you’re up there in the gods with the metropolis at your feet, and suddenly the A3 sketchbook in your lap doesn’t seem big enough. The change in perspective changes you. And as you try to capture what you see, you’re reminded once again that there is more to drawing than just the marks you make on a page.

Original
Gouache, graphite and felt pen in A3 sketchbook
42.5cm x 55cm

View from Tower 42: The Gherkin

2013: This is one of eight illustrations in 'Drawing at the Speed of Life', an eight-page feature about my location drawings published in the Summer 2016 issue of Drawing magazine in the USA. The author is British-American artist and writer John A Parks.

Original
Gouache, graphite and felt pen in A3 sketchbook
42.5cm x 35.5cm