Plein air painting 146

At Victoria Park, on the suburbs of Southampton, a vintage bus and coach rally was held on a very overcast day. I estimate there were probably 45 or so public transport vehicles, plus a number of vintage cars. The single decker bus situated in the center of the painting is an ex- London Transport.
This event was all held in the imposing shadow of the Royal Netley Hospital Chapel, very close, on the banks of Southampton Water. The rain on this summers day did manage to hold off for most of the time painting this scene, apart from one brief but hard shower.
Painted on Sunday 14th July 2024. It is painted on mounting board sized at 9.5 x 12", in oils.

Below is a photo showing the easel set and work progressing.

St Paul's Cathedral London in early Autumn - oil painting

St Paul's Cathedral London in early Autumn - oil painting

Completed oil painting of St Pauls cathedral, London.

The world famous landmark of St Paul's cathedral, London, is the subject of this oil painting, created in late December 2019 and finished off a few days in to the New Year. The building is shown in early autumn light from a south easterly aspect. The main road populated by mainly buses, including one of the famous new Routemaster buses ( Boris Bus) is Cannon Street. The building itself has hosted various important public events and is a big landmark in the city. It was the tallest building until 1967. Its designer was Sir Christopher Wren, who also built a number of London's famous churches surrounding the area. Work was started not long after the fist St Paul's was destroyed in the great fire of London in 1666, and was opened for use in 1711.

The artwork is painted in oils on acid free mounting board, as is sized at 33” x 23”. It can be seen in greater detail on this link.

London Cockspur St bus stop - oil painting

London Cockspur St bus stop - oil painting

Finished oil painting of a bus stop at Cockspur st, central London.

Two buses are shown parked at a bus stop in Cockspur Street, central London during a wet summers afternoon. Both buses have terminated at the stop and a number of tourists are planning their next move, which may well be a visit to Trafalgar Square. This famous Square is very close by and Nelsons column, situated within it, can be seen in the painting. Two passing police with bright safety jackets make a distinctive pair within the crowd. There are a number of big buildings in the street and behind the buses can be seen parts of Canada House. The street is also quite old, going as far back as the 16^th century. The damp conditions of the day add interest with the scene being reflected ion the wet paving surfaces.

This landscape painting was done during July 2019. It measures 33” x 23” approximately, and oil paint was used on acid free mounting board. It can be seen in greater detail by following this link.

London Cockspur St bus stop - WIP stages

 London Cockspur St bus stop - WIP stages

Stages of development of a London street painting.

A wet summers day at Cockspur Street, central London is the subject of this landscape painting, featuring two famous red London buses at a bus stop very close to Trafalgar Square. A number of tourists, having disembarked of the leading are presumably planning a trip to the nearby square.

The image above shows 4 stages of the creation process regarding the artwork. The first panel features the initial stage with the scene drawn out in brown acrylic on a yellow ochre wash, also done with acrylic paint. To the right in the second panel stage, a wash of diluted oil paint has been applied to suggest basic colour choices. This will act as underpainting and will be, as shown in the third panel painted over with thicker paint, to the correct colour and tonal values. Also in this layer of painting, finer details are applied. The final panel shows the completed London street scene painting, which can be seen on this link in better detail.

Bishopsgate London - oil painting

Bishopsgate London - oil painting

London, Bishopsgate finishd oil painting

Painted in May 2019, a busy view of Bishopsgate is shown. This is a main road on the edge of financial district of the city of London, and Liverpool Street station is seconds away on the right hand side of the street. A number of pedestrians can be seen to be crossing the road which appears to be full buses. It is a sunny day so plenty of shadows are cast on the ground. Interestingly light is being bounced around by some of the large glass fronted buildings so further shadows are cast leading to quite complex patterns on the road. The skyline is dominated by tall buildings so unusually there is no sky visible in the London landscape view.

This landscape oil painting is done on mounting board, with an area of 33” x 24”.

A clearer view of the painting can be seen here on this external site.

 

Bishopsgate London - WIP stages

Bishopsgate London - WIP stages

WIP stages of Bishopsgate/ Liverpool street oil painting

This landscape oil painting is of a central/ east London view. The area is known as Bishopsgate on the edge of the busy financial district of the city. Painted on mounting board, the artwork measures 33” x 24” approx, and the image above shows progressive work on the painting.

In the first panel can be seen the drawing, done in dark brown acrylic paint on a yellow ochre 'ground' wash, also done in acrylics. I use such paint for this part of the process as it is quick drying, rather than oil paint. Next the oil paintings are opened and a basic colour wash is applied with the paints being diluted with thinner as seen in the 2^nd panel. The colours and tones are 'blocked in' to give a rough indication of the direction of the artwork. Once this level is dry then thicker paint levels are applied with careful views to getting the correct colours and tones. Also details are added at this stage, as can be viewed in the 3^rd panel. Finally the 4^th panel shows the finished oil painting of this urban landscape.

The artwork can be seen in detail on this link.

Working on closeup 59

Working on closeup 59

A small snipped of a street scene at London's Bishopsgate...

London City Bank Area In Sunny Autumn - WIP stages

London City Bank Area In Sunny Autumn - WIP stages

WIP on London financial district oil painting

The picture above shows development work of the painting 'London City Bank Area In Sunny Autumn'. It measures 60” x 40” and is painted in oils on canvas. The first panel shows the drawing, done in brown acrylic on a brown wash. White areas have been added to illustrate the intended areas of brightness, such as the sky. Darker tones are added using a brown wash built up in layers. The second panel now shows the underpainting of the scene, done ias a wash in oils. No detail is added at this stage and the colours are of a slightly darker tone than what would be the final colour. In the third panel detail and more colour is added to the overall painting, with the colour paint becoming more thicker in the way it is applied and truer to the final required tone. Finally the forth panel shows the completed oil painting of this busy scene, set in the heart of the financial district of the city of London.

The completed artwork can be seen on this link.

London City Bank Area In Sunny Autumn - oil painting

London City Bank Area In Sunny Autumn - oil painting

Oil painting of a busy autumn day at Bank, London.

'Bank' is an area of London situated in the financial heart of the city. This painting features a number of famous buildings of different ages. Dominating the scene is the Royal Exchange, while on the left is the Bank of England. In the background can be seen the tower 42 (Natwest) and the Scapel. In typical London fashion the streets are littered by plenty of red buses at this busy junction.

This painting is quite large, measuring 60” x 40” and is painted in oils on canvas. Work on it was completed during very late December 2018.

The london landscape painting can be viewed in greater detail on this link.