Stained Glass – Christ Church

A while ago we showed some American friends around Oxford. Their reaction to all the old buildings was of course quite predictable, but what I hadn’t expected was that their awe would also make me appreciate again buildings that had become all too familiar. One of these, the cathedral in Christ Church, was an oasis of calm that morning. We seemed to be the only people in the building at the time, and of course the whole interior is beautifully ornate, in a rather more conventional style than the Sagrada Familia which featured in the previous post.

This picture, just like the last, includes an ornate stained glass window. However, because of how this drawing was created with pen and then with crayon, there is absolutely no problem here with a lack of contrast between the window space and the wall that surrounds it. The crayon also made it easier to highlight the effects of the internal lighting in this scene, which I have to say was very satisfying to draw as all the detail holds together rather well.