Sketching the 'New' Church of Delft!

Although it was long due, finally I stepped out and drew the New Church of Delft! 

Even though it is called New church or Nieuwe Kerk in Dutch, it was built in 1496. So why is it called the New Church you ask? Because of the glorious and slightly tilted Old Church built in 1246. That, I believe is as creative naming could get here.

Draft 1

The New Church is situated in the Historic center of Delft, which is a place I love going to mostly because of how beautiful and lively the area usually is. The statue you can spot at the bottom of the drawing is of Victor Hugo and the people next to it are completely imaginary as it was rather crowded that day hence most of the bottom part of this drawing is missing/extrapolated/approximated.

Draft 2

The new church

However highly I speak of this church, I must admit I haven't been to this church. Maybe I will next time.
Next on my list in Delft is the Oost port. Hopefully that will be soon. 

Sketching at Den Haag with Usk-Den Haag

Den Haag skyline

On May 1st I went out sketching in Den Haag with the new Urban Sketchers group in Den Haag.

This is the first time I did urban sketching in Europe after a long dry spell due to the awful weather conditions.

Had a great time, met nice people and most importantly, sketched outdoors after a very long time!

Urban sketchers

Sketching Saint Niklaaskerk, Gent, Belgium

This weekend I was in a beautiful city of Belgium called Gent. Famous for its University, beautiful churches, castle and veggie friendly menu, I have grown a liking for this place. The city center is one of the prettiest of all the historical city centres I have seen. Having come here many times, I was always let down by the cold rainy weather, because of which I couldn't sketch. This time I checked the weather forecast beforehand, packed accordingly and on a beautiful sunny day I was able to sketch down St. Niklaas Kerk (St. Nicholas Church) at Korenmarkt.

Saint Nicholas church

Among many other buidings, I was particularly fascinated by the architecture and facade of this church. The interiors were very ornate and the most striking feature is the massive organ inside it.

Meta

Things I observed while sketching:

1. Structure the building's important parts first to avoid running out of space later

2. Creating shadows using line width. I haven't figured that out yet! Next study will be focussed  on that. (I will be sketching in Vienna soon with a good friend. What a place to study!)

I will post a good close up of my sketch soon.
Here is an interesting photograph of a sculpture I found in this church.