So my drawing 'Stop, Check, Turn and Double Back' won the public vote at the Cambridge Drawing Society Spring Exhibition. Very pleased with this as there were between 300 and 400 works, many of very high quality. I was asked to write about the picture for the Society's newsletter, this is what I wrote -
The drawing is of Tib Lane in central Manchester, a well known pub, the Town Hall Tavern, is to the right of the picture. I lived in Manchester for 10 years and still visit when I can, I’ve drawn several pictures of the city all of them seem to contain pubs!
Night time cityscapes often appeal to me because of the really strong contrast between dark and light, and with this street there was also the stark architectural difference between the modern glass tower block and the Victorian street below. For the references for this drawing I took several photos from different angles, that way, to suit the composition, I could edit out some things I didn’t want, such as cars and people with umbrellas, and still put in the detail they were hiding. I also rearranged some of the office lighting to better balance the image. I wanted the street to appear deserted and have an air of mystery, so the viewer is left wondering what’s going on, or what is about to happen, as if it was a still from a film.
I kept the colour palette fairly limited, mostly using dark sepia and dark indigo coloured pencils, with some yellow ochre on the lights. I used some black on the shadows, I think every art class I’ve ever done has advised against this, but for me using black not only heightens the contrast but also gives a finality and depth to the shadows that complementary colours just don’t. Working in such detail as I do I’m often asked ‘how long did it take you to draw that?’ many days, weeks, months, I don’t know, but there are no short cuts, no hacks, you just keep going till it’s done!
The drawing is of Tib Lane in central Manchester, a well known pub, the Town Hall Tavern, is to the right of the picture. I lived in Manchester for 10 years and still visit when I can, I’ve drawn several pictures of the city all of them seem to contain pubs!
Night time cityscapes often appeal to me because of the really strong contrast between dark and light, and with this street there was also the stark architectural difference between the modern glass tower block and the Victorian street below. For the references for this drawing I took several photos from different angles, that way, to suit the composition, I could edit out some things I didn’t want, such as cars and people with umbrellas, and still put in the detail they were hiding. I also rearranged some of the office lighting to better balance the image. I wanted the street to appear deserted and have an air of mystery, so the viewer is left wondering what’s going on, or what is about to happen, as if it was a still from a film.
I kept the colour palette fairly limited, mostly using dark sepia and dark indigo coloured pencils, with some yellow ochre on the lights. I used some black on the shadows, I think every art class I’ve ever done has advised against this, but for me using black not only heightens the contrast but also gives a finality and depth to the shadows that complementary colours just don’t. Working in such detail as I do I’m often asked ‘how long did it take you to draw that?’ many days, weeks, months, I don’t know, but there are no short cuts, no hacks, you just keep going till it’s done!
