Sketch: Two ladies taking coffee at Carlisle Cathedral

This sketch was the result of a plein air outing to Carlisle. I spent some time drawing from the complex architecture of the cathedral, and then went for coffee at the cathedral cafe. It was a sunny and breezy day. The lady on the left was taking coffee with an elderly lady who sat across the table from her. I considered drawing from them but was not sufficiently moved to. After ten minutes or so the lady on the right turned up and joined the others. Her elegance and her yellow dress prompted me to embark on a sketch. The two ladies were paying much attention to the old lady opposite, and this had the fortunate effect of keeping them reasonably still. The old lady was in the frame, but added too much clutter to the sketch so I left her out entirely. The colour scheme is partly accidental as I had a few unfamiliar paints with me that day and wanted to try them out. The bag in the foreground was a strong primary red. Initially I painted it with a cadmium red, but the bag as a result became the most dominant visual element in the painting. This would not do, so I toned the bag back with a hooker’s green and some Prussian blue to make it recede a bit. A happy side effect was the creation of some colour links between the bag and certain of the masonry blocks in the sunlit wall of the cathedral.