Painting process | Winter Light on the Pimlico Grid

6 Apr

Living in Pimlico, I always loved how the sun casts unexpected pastel colours across the white terrace houses. It’s always surprising, as the tones and patterns change depending on the weather and time of year. It’s such a beautiful effect, especially on a bright winter’s day when the sun is low and strong and catches through the bare trees.

I chose to push those colours in this painting, and I had so much fun pinpointing and then enhancing them. It’s as much a celebration of colour and light as it is a painting of a London street scene.

You can watch the full time-lapse of this painting by clicking the image above.

Preliminary sketches and studies

I started by trying out a few different compositions. I decided to zoom out slightly and go with the sketch on the right, so I could get more sky and road in for contrast.

I then did this sketch to cement the composition and work out the value hierarchy.
I decided to make the sky the same value as the dark side of the buildings. This compresses the value masses slightly, making the highlights stand out even more against the darker sky.

Next, I painted these three little value studies to work out where the darks and lights sit on a value scale. Getting the values right is what makes this kind of low winter light feel believable.

Finally, I started adding colour in these small simplified paint sketches. The consistent hints of orange on the trees, brickwork and cars, create balance through the painting. I particularly wanted to enhance the beautiful complementary opposite purple-yellow and blue-orange colour combinations in the scene.
I experimented with adding clouds but decided to keep the sky clear so as not to distract from the details in the foreground.

The painting process

I spent a few hours drawing out this composition to make sure I got the perspective right and relationships between the value shapes correct. This is extra important when painting buildings so the structure holds together and the perspective feels convincing.

Here’s the painting fully blocked-in. It’s loose, but the bones are there, enough for the light to already work.

Here, I’ve started to bring the light into the painting, where it catches the edges of windowsills, stairs, porticos and roofs as it filters down the side of the building. This starts to create depth and texture across the surface.

Next I put a lot of time into the tree to create the illusion of the mass of twigs, which are necessary for the shadows to make sense. I painted in the mass of branches and then cut back into them with background colours.
The light hitting the branches and trunk is warm golden-orange and green, while its shadow is cool blue and purple.

Finally, I worked on the road, and how the light reflects off its slightly damp surface. I layered purples and oranges to create the mottled effect. I added the road lines in blues and yellows, softening the edges to make them sit into the road surface believably.
I also finished painting the background buildings, fading the detail out to mimic how our eye sees into the distance. I love the characterful chimney shadow cast across the next building.

Finished!

"Winter Light on the Pimlico Grid"

70cm x 50cm, oil on linen

I loved mixing so many colours in this painting. I think it helped to create a glowing sense of light. The chroma is turned up, but it still feels like Pimlico on a winter’s afternoon. I’ll definitely be taking this joyful use of colour into my future work!