The Clerkenwell Design Week 2012 was yet again, a very inspiring few days. The studios and showrooms in Clerkenwell opened their doors, there were talks and events, parties and a brilliant walking tour run by Creative Clerkenwell.

The walking tour was with designer and historian Jane Young of London Kills Me and sponsored by wacom bamboo stylus, THE pen for sketching on the iPad. Jane took us all around Clerkenwell, pointing out buildings of significance, taking us past the new Goldsmith Centre, explaining the relevance of the Jerusalem Taverns in the area and allowing us time to sit and draw what we could see around us.

We stopped in the park behind St James Church, Clerkenwell Green to do some drawing and found a fabulous art installation titled ‘Spring Forest’ by the architect, Franceso Draisci. Made of scaffolding poles, red insulation foam and umbrellas, the installation provided a play ground for children, shade for those craving to get away from the sun and a colourful piece of art for the eye.

I just had to sketch it using my bamboo stylus and ‘paper 53‘ app on my iPad.

Then we discovered, sitting amongst the installation was the architect himself – what a great find and surprise!

Such a lovely couple of hours enjoying the May sunshine, meeting inspiring people, looking beyond my normal field of vision and learning new facts about Clerkenwell. Thanks Clerkenwell Design Week, Creative Clerkenwell and London Kills Me.

The Stylus and App
If you like drawing/sketching, enjoy using a tablet and haven’t tried using a sketching app yet, quick, download one and get hooked like I have! Not only does the App make drawings looks wonderful, it is really fun to use, easy to draw with and can be erased, changed in colour and given different finishes/textures. I use the Paper 53 App but there are plenty of others out there to try. The bamboo stylus is very elegant, lovely to hold and just works. The stylus tip is very sensitive and allows for different strokes to be made with a simple movement.