International studio (41.1910)

Tintern and the Wye as a Sketching Ground

actually built on a higher level than the carriage r I "^INTERN AND THE WYE AS

road, or for present purposes he has imagined it j\ SKETCHING GROUND. BY

I

to be so, and his design has gained in effective- ALFRED EAST ARA PRBA

ness from the treatment of this problem. Enorc
in one set provides a bedroom only 9 feet square; When I went down to Tintern, in the Valley of
his second design is simple and good, but might the Wye, I wondered if it were possible to find a
be improved by a slight re-arrangement of the subject in this famous sketching ground which
porch, which would prevent direct entry into the had not been painted before. I knew that Turner
living-room. had painted the ruins of Tintern Abbey in his

Corstorphine sends an excellent set, though the incomparable style, and that Cotman had also
kitchen might well be larger, and his more than immortalised the spot with his brush, each in all
ample provision of cupboards takes much useful probability having selected that point of view
space out of the rooms. Alban also has a good which impressed him most.

scheme, though rather weakly drawn. The plan is I spent some days in trying to discover a posi-
good, except that the larder has an east light, and tion whence the beauty of the windings of the
there is a rather useless gable over the entrance. Wye best revealed themselves. Before me the
The Cricket sends a well-drawn set; but the plan river wound like a ribbon of azure, while on its
is capable of improvement. Aggie's perspective banks the ruins of the famous abbey were set like
does not quite do justice to his design, which has a pendent jewel. I clambered over stony places,
a good and compact plan.
Cotswold's drawing, also, is
not very effective, though
his scheme is a pleasant
and quiet one with parapet
walls. Eidoom sends a
pleasing half-timbered de-
sign with brick filling in.
In most districts 9 inch
brickwork is required be-
hind wood quartering The
coal cellar is too small.
Both Possum and Hibis
have roofs with too flat a
pitch for tiles. In Olafs
plan the bedrooms enter
out of the living-room—a
thing to be avoided where
possible; but in ether re-
spects his set is excellent.
Vesper shows a living-room
only 9 feet wide, and pro-
vides for very generous cup-
boards, but no larder with
external ventilation. In
Winston s design the rooms
are all too small and are
over-windowed, a remark
which applies also to Jande.
Jioycroffs design is not
helped by its perspective,
or its colouring, and a large
amount of his cubic con-
tents consists of useless
roof-space. lead pencil sketch .. by Alfred east, a.r.a.

141 .