Gloucester Green is where Oxford has its open-air market. The Square is behind the main bus station, next to The Odeon cinema and is surrounded by eateries, newsagents, gaming stores. Off on one side is The Red Lion Pub.

This is a building that I’ve done a few studies of. Perhaps this is because of its distinctive half-rounded shape but I also like the mixture of the back of buildings around it; in-between places like the back of the New Theatre, back street shops and other odds and ends. Also if you time it right, you can draw from one of the adjacent cafes, which makes life a bit more comfortable.

Below are a series of views and sketches. A visiting dispatch rider gets included in one of my sketches. That’s what happens if you linger for too long! At the end perhaps my most literal interpretation of the pub – which is probably getting more towards architectural illustration rather than sketching.

The Red Lion from Gloucester Green

another view – with that dispatch rider loitering…

Another rough watercolour with dispatch rider included

Another view – of the front of the Red Lion – and passing cyclist.

Back to Bath Road, Abingdon

Back to The George Hotel, Dorchester on Thames

Sketching houses on London Street, Faringdon