Charing Cross bridge over the Thames in London - WIP stages

Painted during the summer of 2021 this 20” x 16” oil painting shows a scene during a sunny autumn day in London. The location is the South Bank, looking over the Thames and on to the Embankment on the opposite side
The photo above shows four stages of the painting in progress. In the first panel can be seen the drawing, based on a photo that had been altered compositionally, which is done in dark brown paint on a lighter brown wash, using acrylic paint. Moving to the second stage diluted oil paint has been added, mainly to act as an underpainting to give guidance to the placement of colour and tonal values within the composition. When this level is dry then the painting can be tackled with thicker paint, used to create the final layer and clarifying the correct colours, as partly done in the third panel with work underway. Finally the last panel shows the completed artwork of the London scene, which can be seen in greater detail by following this 3^rd party external link. 

Charing Cross bridge over the Thames in London - oil painting

A view of the river Thames is shown during a sunny autumn day in the city of London, UK. The people shown are seen standing on the 'South bank', with the 'Embankment' on the north side of the Thames. In this busy part of the city can be seen a number of distinctive land mark structures. Charing cross station can be seen, with a large development, known as Embankment Place, that was opened in 1989, on top of the Victorian railway station. The railway station is fed from railway lines coming across Hungerford bridge, built in 1870s and replacing an earlier design. For most of its life it has had a pedestrian footway of some form as well as carrying railway traffic. In recent years to celebrate the Queen's Golden Jubilee, a new suspension walkway was added either side of the railway bridge, which can be seen on the right.
The location is popular with tourists and a few can be seen enjoying the mourning Autumn light. A man is leaning against one of the famous 'dolphin lamps' with populate both sides of the Thames and are of an intricate Victorian design. A couple are photographing each other, presumably with the intention of getting the Houses of Parliament in the frame, which can be found sightly further down the Embankment side, and of to the side of this composition.
This painting was done in oils on mounting board, sized at 20” x 16” and painted during summer 2021. It can be examined in better detail by following this link. 

Tower Bridge as seen from Butler's Wharf - WIP stages

Stages of painting the image of Tower Bridge, London.

Tower Bridge, a world famous landmark is portrayed in this painting, created during late 2020. Tower bridge is situated in the city of London, UK and spans the river Thames, linking the north and south sides.

The painting is done in oils on mounting board, sized at 33” x 23”. The photograph above shows various stages of the work under progress. In the first panel the initial drawing can be seen, done in brown acrylic paint on top of a lighter brown wash. It is based on a photograph taken a number of years ago. The tug boat was repositioned to create a more pleasing composition. The second panel displays how colour paint has been applied to create a basic idea of tonal and colour placement within the composition. The paint is diluted with a special thinner for this task and is dry after a few days, and this becomes the underpainting. One part of the panel does show one of the towers partly painted with a further stage applied, which is the next stage as shown in panel 3, where the paint is applied thickly without being diluted. Details are painted in and the colours are more truer to the intended outcome. The final, fourth panel shows the final, finished artwork. Here all of the paint is applied thickly. In addition a glazing layer was applied on top of the paint to emphasize some colour and tonal adjustments, and to help create a more vibrant painting. Glazing is when a small amount of oil colour paint is added to a medium, in this case one which is like a thick, transparent oil to create something akin to stained glass. Basically the colour of something in the painting has its colour boosted or empathised to create extra depth.

The finished London landscape painting can be seen on this link. 

Tower Bridge as seen from Butler's Wharf - oil painting

Completed London landscape art of Tower Bridge on the Thames.

 The famous landmark of Tower Bridge is the subject of this London based landscape painting. The bridge crosses over the River Thames, linking south and north London. The outer sections are in the form of a suspension bridge, with the road surface held in position with cables. The section between the towers is in two sections which lift upward, being pivoted in the base of each tower. The bases contain the motors to power this movement although when originally opened, in the 1890's, the bridge was steam powered with the engines housed on the bank of the river, now a museum. The towers have a steel frame construction while the walkways help to strengthen the whole structure when in use. In the distance, between the towers can be seen the heart of the financial district of the city, represented by an ever-changing skyline of impressive, tall buildings.

The painting is sized at 33” x 23” and painted in oils on mounting board. It was created during November/ December 2020. It can be seen in sharper detail by following this link.

 

Working on closeup 83

A small snippet of a famous landmark in London, oil painting...