My travel sketchbook: Karlskirche, Vienna

The minus temperatures in Vienna were in no way conducive to the gentile activity of taking out my sketchbook en plein air and capturing the city “live”, as it were. But having somewhat shunned the interior of the Karlskirche, arguably one of Vienna’s best known monuments and most famous churches, owing to the exorbitant costs of entry, I felt that I should at least begin a sketch in appreciation of its glorious exterior, before completing the drawing back in our wonderful hotel suite. 

With my rather exacting method of sketching direct with sketching pens (I enjoy the permanence of the final effect as opposed to a paler sketch from pencil), getting the proportions of the church right from this rather difficult angle, seen from one corner through the trees of the impressive Karlsplatz gardens, was not easy. And while the sketch which results would probably send architects quaking for its lack of precision, I am more than happy with the result. After all, it captures all of the grandeur of this most charismatic of monuments, while being viewed in the softened context of the gardens which surround it. 

Karlskirche from the Karlsplatz, Vienna (2016 ©Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com