Day fifty-two of The 100 Day Project for 2021.
Full disclosure: I ate yesterday's sketch subject today. It was delicious.
This afternoon I took up the offer of a lovely neighbour to join her and her two doggos for a walk.
I needed to get out. To speak with another human being in person (my flatmate is a human being, but we don't really talk in the same way I do with others). And get some vitamin D (albeit mostly muted through sunscreen and a winter coat).
I finally saw the development that's replaced my beloved gasometers up close.
While the playground is well-planned and spacious and obviously already well used, the trade-off is two and, eventually, three tall apartment blocks.
Blocks that may or may not actually become fully occupied. Not something I welcome to the area, given so many similar local developments, often with very low occupancy. Likely not including many affordable housing options and pushing up the purchase and rental prices in the area.
It's also disappointing the River Moselle, one of London's subterranean rivers, has been uncovered but not incorporated into the development.
Admittedly, it's more of a brook, or even just seems like a sewer at this point. But, given time and care, I'm sure it could have been rejuvenated and add a natural feature back into the area.
Instead, there's a water feature which - while peaceful - is a heavily sanitised version of a natural one.
Today's sketch was drawn with a 4H pencil. The outlines were drawn over with an HB pencil. And the leaf veins and other lighter lines brought out more with the 4H pencil used more heavily.