After being away on holiday and sketching in Alicante, I thought I’d catch up on a few little projects around Oxford. With the change in the seasons accelerating, it is again something to get used to – and is more about overcoats than T-shirts. After a wander around the city, I decided to draw one of Oxford’s older hotels – The Mitre -presently under renovation on Oxford’s broad High Street.

Those of you who follow my posts might remember my drawing of the rather grand Randolph Hotel back in the beginning of October. The Mitre is smaller, less grand but more historic. it is more like a jumble of older buildings cobbled together – with cellars possibly dating from the 1300s. The Mitre was in its heyday in the 1600s as a busy coaching inn on the main route from London to Oxford and beyond. Like the Randolph, it has been refurbished twice in the last few years and is now soon to re-open as an Italian restaurant. For now, though, the windows are blanked out and there is a steady traffic of workmen coming and going.

Choosing a spot to draw from can be tricky but in this case I found a space just outside The Ivy – one of Oxford’s fancier restaurants.

Here’s a view of the Mitre and my ongoing sketch in-situ.

This is a sketch that I decided to go back to – adding some more detail (below).

This is not perhaps one of my best drawings but one that I intend to come back to again and add some colour to, making it a more complete sketch.