London

Painting Westminster Abbey

/ davidrpharmer / 2 Comments

Westminster Abbey

Not inspired by the coronation, because I have looked at this amazing abbey for some time, as a possible painting. A lot of architectural detail which I love to have a go at. I work by allusion. I could not reproduce all the detail exactly, especially with a brush. I put in some detail, some shading and get the colour as close as possible to the original stonework, which is a pinky grey colour, and this seems to work. I sometimes think that the eye of the neholder finishes off the image and fills in the gaps that I have left.

I sorted through various photographic references. I had plenty to choose from. Part of the facade was obscured by two buses and other traffic. There is a column of pink granite in front of the abbey which I felt was in the way, so just left it out. I took out one bus and moved the other one as far left as I could manage, and painted in the red livery that you expect of a London bus. As far as I could see, this is one of the new Routemasters. I am not an expert. I just eclipsed the abbey with the bus, just to show they belonged in the same picture, not placed together artificially. I felt they worked together. I echoed the red with pedestrians in different parts of the composition.

St James Palace on the left I put in heavy shadow, much heavier than the photograph reference. I liked the effect. The spotlight was now on the abbey. The tower of the Houses of Parliament I painted in very pale violet. The image faded away, giving an impression of distance.

I felt satisfied with the composition. The facade of the abbey needed some work. I sharpened some of the detail on tracery, and put extra shadow in to let the eye see where everything was. I don’t do much more than that. The allusion is complete. The eye of the viewer can fill in what is missing

The painting is finished . I would have preferred not to introduce green but there was a tree which couldn’t be left out. This painting will be shown next month in Chichester where I have been invited by a gallery to take part in an exhibition. So a new area which I am looking forward to.

Exhibition in Woking Lightbox: The Camden Town Group

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This painting is by Robert Bevan 1865-1925, one of the the Camden Art School, painting as the name suggests in North London during the Edwardian period

This painting is entitled Dunns Cottage and was painted in Devon, although Bevan was just as at home painting in London, usually horse fairs and horse drawn vehicles. Bevan studied in Brittany in Pont Aven painting alongside Gauguin, and the influence on this painting is plain to see, large blocks of flat colour and unrealistic shades

Other artists represented at this exhibition are Walter Sickert, sometimes known as the father of them all, Spencer Gore and Ginner

Rather like the French Impressionists a few decades before, the Camden group painted contemporary scenes of city life, the streets, theatres, places of entertainment like pubs and circuses. Sickert portrayed young women in the nude at their toilette rather in the style of Degas, who was a great influence. Non erotic portraits of women in dingy surroundings were something he often came back to, as though the flatness of their life was something which fascinated him.

Preparatory drawings of the figures for his famous painting Ennui are also there, a study of tedium and of people trapped in their lives

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The Balcony, Mornington Crescent  by Spencer Gore (1878-1914)

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The Circus by Charles Ginner (1878-1952)

Ginner was born in Cannes of a British father who established the Pharmacie Ginner. His brother was a doctor on the Riviera . Ginner himself studied art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and was influenced by the French art of the day. The circus was a favourite subject, and this picture can be compared by one of Seurat, which is in the Kroller Muller Museum in Holland

Ginner moved to London and became an influential member of the Camden group

The quality of exhibitions at the Lightbox continues to improve, and well worth a visit if you are in striking distance. The other exhibition one floor below, on the History of the Comic, extremely informative and comprehensive for those interested in graphic art