• Join / Renew
  • View / Create Account
  • View Your Cart
  • Members’ Area
    • Publications
      • Royal Oak News
      • National Trust Regional Newsletters
      • Magazine Discounts
    • Travel
      • Albion Tours 2021
      • Arrangements Abroad 2020
      • Heritage Circle Tours
      • National Trust Partners
      • Hotels and Accommodation
      • National Trust Rentals
      • Royal Over-Seas League
      • In and Around London Map
  • Programs & Events
    • Winter 2021 Online Lectures
    • Past Fall 2020 Online Lectures & Tours
    • Fountains Abbey Online Fundraiser
    • Past Spring/Summer 2020 Online Events
    • Past Winter 2020 Events
    • Past 2019 Fall Events & Tours
    • Past Annual Benefits
    • Past 2019 Spring Events & Tours
    • Past 2018 Fall Events & Tours
  • Impact
    • Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal
    • Recent Campaigns
    • 2019 Grants
    • The Nigel Seeley Fellowship
    • The Damaris Horan Fellowship
  • Stories
    • Houses & Buildings
    • Gardens & Parklands
    • Art & Furniture
    • Nature & Wildlife
    • Cooking & Traditions
    • Families & People
    • Events & Galas
    • News & Announcements
  • About Us
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • News & Announcements
    • Press
    • About The National Trust
    • FAQ
  • Support Us
    • Membership
    • Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal
    • Heritage Circle
    • 2020 Annual Fund
    • Lecture Support
    • Legacy Circle
    • Partners
    • Ways to Give

The Royal Oak Foundation

  • View / Create Account
  • View Your Cart
  • Join/Renew
  • Members’ Area
    • Publications
      • Royal Oak News
      • National Trust Regional Newsletters
      • Magazine Discounts
    • Travel
      • Albion Tours 2021
      • Arrangements Abroad 2020
      • Heritage Circle Tours
      • National Trust Partners
      • Hotels and Accommodation
      • National Trust Rentals
      • Royal Over-Seas League
      • In and Around London Map
  • Programs & Events
    • Winter 2021 Online Lectures
    • Past Fall 2020 Online Lectures & Tours
    • Fountains Abbey Online Fundraiser
    • Past Spring/Summer 2020 Online Events
    • Past Winter 2020 Events
    • Past 2019 Fall Events & Tours
    • Past Annual Benefits
    • Past 2019 Spring Events & Tours
    • Past 2018 Fall Events & Tours
  • Impact
    • Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal
    • Recent Campaigns
    • 2019 Grants
    • The Nigel Seeley Fellowship
    • The Damaris Horan Fellowship
  • Stories
    • Houses & Buildings
    • Gardens & Parklands
    • Art & Furniture
    • Nature & Wildlife
    • Cooking & Traditions
    • Families & People
    • Events & Galas
    • News & Announcements
  • About Us
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • News & Announcements
    • Press
    • About The National Trust
    • FAQ
  • Support Us
    • Membership
    • Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal
    • Heritage Circle
    • 2020 Annual Fund
    • Lecture Support
    • Legacy Circle
    • Partners
    • Ways to Give

Stories

Finding Inspiration for Sketching in the National Trust

March 3, 2015

By Jacqueline Bascetta, Executive Coordinator & Board Liaison

Jacqueline Bascetta spent a year studying in England and visited numerous National Trust properties, including Stourhead, Prior Park, Croome Court, Tyntesfield, Stonehenge, Avebury, Woodchester Park, Bath Assembly Rooms, Castle Drogo, Lacock Abbey and Stowe, among others. An avid sketcher, she drew features at some of the properties that stuck with her the most. Today, she’s detailing her experience sketching Stowe.

Take in these and other properties, and enjoy unlimited access to National Trust properties in the UK, by becoming a Royal Oak member. Join Now

The East Lake Pavilion at Stowe, Buckinghamshire.

The East Lake Pavilion at Stowe, which Jacqueline drew while she studied in England.

I’m not alone in saying that the scenery of a historic house and garden often produces a desire to create something equally striking. Sketching is one of my favorite hobbies and is nurtured by my love of travel. For a graduate class, I visited Stowe with an assignment to draw and describe two of the garden’s structures. Not only did this exercise indulge my love for historic buildings and encourage my favorite hobby, it also gave me the opportunity to research classical architecture, a field which I’ve only studied in a preservation capacity.

Stowe Garden Lake Pavilion EastMy first sketch is of the east Lake Pavilion, built in 1719 by Sir John Vanbrugh. This is one of a pair which frames the Corinthian Arch and Grand Avenue. There are many architectural features and terminology that I learned just from labeling this sketch. The structure’s columns are in a tetrastyle arrangement: four fluted columns in front, and one along each side. Pilasters are affixed to the back wall of the porch. The columns terminate on square plinths, and the capital is Roman Doric. In a second sketch I included other features of the pavilion: the triglyphs, the metopes, mutules, and guttae. There were small details I couldn’t include in the first drawing, but found invaluable to my learning process.

The second structure I studied, The Corinthian Arch, was designed in 1765 by Thomas Pitt and is 60 feet high and 60 feet wide. It contains two four story houses in the interior for the gamekeepers; the doors and windows visible only from the sides. The features of note here include four Corinthian pilasters, the plaster wreaths, and the balustraded parapet.Stowe Corinthian Arch

My favorite part of my sketching process is documenting the development of the pieces. I take pictures of the drawing at various stages. For these images, because proportion was most important, I spent a significant amount of time on measuring my images and working from the bottom of the structure up. I enjoy looking at the sequence of drawing to see how the stones seem to “stack” on each other after another hour of drawing has passed.

Stowe's Lake Pavilion DetailTraveling has been the largest inspiration in my amateur sketching career, and I have many photographs saved of scenes I would like to draw from my time in the UK and particularly from the many historic houses I visited.  The continued preservation of many of these structures by the National Trust is essential for my sketches and was, in many instances, the reason I visited the site initially. To contribute to some of the current conservation projects for the National Trust, you can donate here, and as a further contribution, you can try your hand at sketching a structure, preserving it on paper for yourself.

Join Now

SHARE: Share on Facebook
Facebook
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Email this to someone
email
Post navigation
Previous StoryNext Story

Search the Blog

Filter by Category

  • Houses & Buildings
  • Gardens & Parklands
  • Art & Furniture
  • Nature & Wildlife
  • Cooking & Traditions
  • Families & People
  • Travel & Tours
  • Events & Galas
  • News & Announcements
  • Membership
  • 2020 Annual Fund
  • Royal Oak Lecture Support
  • Legacy Circle
  • National Trust Projects
  • Ways to Give
  • Stowe Restoration Appeal
  • Heritage Circle
  • Partners
  • Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal
  • 2018 Grants
  • Recent Campaigns
  • The Nigel Seeley Fellowship
  • The Damaris Horan Fellowship
  • Attingham Summer School Scholarship
  • About Us
  • Board of Directors
  • Staff
  • Job Opportunities
  • About The National Trust
  • FAQ
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

general@royal-oak.org
lectures@royal-oak.org
T: 212.480.2889 | 800.913.6565
F: 212.764.7234

Copyright © 2021 The Royal Oak Foundation. All rights reserved.
20 W 44th Street, Suite 606, New York, New York 10036-6603

This website uses analytical and tracking cookies to improve your user experience and for statistical purposes. By continuing to browse on this website, you agree to the use of such cookies.