St. Marks Lion and Angels, Venice, 2015
Venice
From the preface to
Desmond Freeman: Venice - Impressions in Ink, 2016
As with so many things we undertake, the production of my collection of pen and ink drawings of Venetian architecture began experimentally. I had, some years prior, acquired four sheets of the most sumptuous 600gsm Italian paper, and could imagine no better subject for the first sheet than a black ink sketch of Palazzo Santa Sophia, known locally as Ca’ D’Oro, on the Grand Canal. I was, at the time, fascinated by Gothic revival architecture and thought what better exercise by which to explore this fine example of original Gothic style, than with this magnificent building. ...
Rooms with a View, Paris, 2017
Paris
From the preface to
Desmond Freeman: Paris - Impressions in Ink, 2018
This book displays more than fifty pen and ink drawings - my impressions of Paris. These impressions have been gathered and documented since my first memorable visit to Paris in the early 1970’s. At the time I was a penniless student at the Royal College of Art in London and I was only able to afford such an extravagance by going everywhere on foot. This experience not only familiarized me with the layout of Paris, but required that I take the time – as an otherwise somewhat over enthusiastic flaneur - to really observe the Parisian attention to detail in its architecture, streetscape and particular way of life. I have since returned many times over the last almost fifty years and have found my enthusiasm for this most elegant of cities entirely undiminished. It was natural then that Paris should follow Venice in my planned series of books of drawings depicting my interpretation of the architecture of great European cities. ...