Return of the River God

River God #4 (detail), Carbon Pencil on A3 watercolour paper

I’ve always meant to return to one of the John Bacon River God/Father Thames statues in Richmond, after being unhappy with my first drawing at Ham. So after an aborted attempt earlier in the year I finally got to spend time with the one on Richmond Terrace. What I didn’t count on is even though it was being a weekday, a riot of small children descended after I started the pen drawing below.

They treat the hedge and the statue as a play park and the parents don’t seem to care. Which given it’s precarious nature (Coade stone cannot be repaired, the recipe died with it’s inventor, and the statue as you can see compared to the Ham House version is badly damaged) is highly annoying.

I was using the prickly hedge (also there to protect it) to put my sketchbook on for the pen sketch below, and one naughty child just sat under the hedge looking up at me and shaking it. She was told off by her mother, but mostly the parents don’t give af, even when I caught kids climbing on the statue itself when doing the pencil sketch above. I looked over at the parents and they just gawped dumbly and did nothing

So I had to abandon the sketch, I was planning a watercolour but I stomped out of the park. I could get it being so busy on a weekend, but this was late afternoon, obviously the Cafe attracts the parents and kiddies. I don’t want to sound like an old fogey but the poor statue will be wrecked if kids treat it like a climbing frame.

And the parents might not care about 18th century sculptures or art, but this sculpture like others from John Bacon is irreplaceable.

River God #3, Pigment liner on A4 sketchbook

So, when there were less children (apart from aforementioned climbing incident) I returned a few days later and started a sketch in Conte Carbon pencil of the river god. I think finally I’ve captured it, and yes this is the best pencil sketch I’ve ever done. I was planning to turn it into a watercolour, but the drawing is so good I’m loathe to do that – also the Carbon Pencil needs fixing – any idea if you can do that and then go over in watercolour?

I was intrigued by the shield at the side, not seen that before? Wonder what that means – John said it looks like the City of London shield, but there are additions to it.