An artist sketches the thousands of London pubs

(London) Sitting opposite The Atlas pub in west London, Lydia Wood adds a few touches to her sketch, stopping regularly to sharpen her pencil. This 28-year-old artist has set herself the ambitious goal of designing all of the 3,500 pubs in the British capital.

His TikTok and Instagram accounts are full of black and white drawings of London pubs. In short videos that garner thousands of likes, she describes the creative process, then holds up her work in front of the pub that inspired it.

She has already crunched “a few hundred” of these beloved institutions of the British, often not far from her home in Catford, in south-east London.

Her project was born during confinement, when she had to interrupt the plastic art lessons she was giving to children.

“It kind of came from being a regular in pubs, that’s where I find my friends,” she says.

The young artist has been making this type of drawing for a long time, which she sells at Christmas markets, but when she announced her project, “it got a little crazy”.

Creating art is now her full-time job, and she mostly does individual commissions, including from pubs and homes, while selling prints on the Etsy site.

The pubs are “so quintessentially British”, she says. “Whether you frequent them or not, they are great buildings to see or visit. »

Rude owner

The Atlas pub was suggested to him by a subscriber on TikTok. Although it is located in a quiet street near a leafy cemetery, the sirens of the ambulances and the van of a plumber who has parked just in front of the building somewhat disturb the artist’s work.

Dating from the Victorian era, the red brick establishment has carefully preserved its original woodwork and today offers risotto or duck leg confit on its menu.

Although she doesn’t use her project as an excuse to go pub hopping, she likes to visit these establishments to get a feel for their vibe — whether it’s a “local” pub with local regulars or a “watering hole” in the center of the capital with an ever-changing clientele.

A few days after capturing The Atlas, she travels to bustling Soho to sketch a very different pub, The Coach and Horses, which she once frequented.

“When you’ve been in a pub, you kind of have a connection with it,” she describes.

She chose this pub because someone had mentioned it in a comment under one of her videos on TikTok telling her that her grandfather, Norman Balon, was known as “the rudest landlord in London”, and had ran the establishment for more than 60 years.

“I love these kinds of anecdotes,” she admits. “It immediately attracted me. »

Located in a historic 19th century building^e century, The Coach and Horses is now run by a chain of breweries. This Saturday afternoon, he sees a steady stream of passers-by and shoppers sitting outside with their pints.

Drawing it took almost three hours. “It’s fun — there are a lot of people around, but it’s actually a pretty peaceful design. »