I visited Cardiff in September 2026 with my good friend (and fellow illustrator) Jessica Sian. I’ve vowed to be better at documenting my sketchbooks as I fill them. So here are a few of my highlights, with drawings in tow.
Exploring the arcades was a highlight of our trip. We sat and drew in Castle Arcade. I was too overwhelmed (or possibly indecisive) to make one single drawing, so I drew lots of different details.
Another highlight was the Animal Wall by Cardiff castle. It features 15 carved stone animals. The full list is pelican, anteater, racoons, leopard, beaver, vulture, hyena, wolf, baboons, sea lion, bear, lioness, lynx and a pair of lions.
I did a quick “blind” drawing of each of them (drawing without looking at the paper. Or at least, resisting looking for as long as possible). Some of them look pretty funny. I think the Hyena resembles a Pokémon. The leopard and the bear turned out very well. But many (if not all) have a charm about them.
We also enjoyed walking through Bute Park, taking in the greenery and playing some of the musical instruments.
The final highlight was Cardiff Bay. We were lucky that the grey clouds cleared and we were graced with blue skies and sunshine. I really enjoyed seeing the Pierhead Building with strong contrast, though the Ferris Wheel cast a distinctive shadow onto the front.
I sat and drew the Pierhead Building from a slight distance. I put a lot of emphasis on the ornate brickwork – but less on the windows!
We completed our trip to Cardiff Bay with a walk along the barrage as far as the The Enormous Crocodile (from the Roald Dahl story – one of my favourite picture books as a kid).
Before we left for our train back to London we popped into Cardiff Market, and bought plenty of Welsh Cakes for the journey.
Isabella Mitchell 