Another view I have attempted in the past and have been slightly dissatisfied with the outcome, but recently walking down the street at just the right hour of the day I saw how the light strafed the architecture, picking out walls, towers, roofs and cupolas of the Victorian buildings whilst plunging the rest into shade.
This rhythm of light and shade seemed to energise the scene. When I started painting I was tempted to hit the right hand side in one frantic wash to capture the energy, but refrained, and built up washes slowly – mixing colours on the paper. Gradually I built up the tonal differences in specific areas to allow subtle hints of architecture to come through and create realism without getting too pedantic.
Hopefully it has worked. I was very pleased with the way the offset windows on the red Prudential Assurance building got picked out and the loose rendering of the left hand side buildings have the appearance of being hit by bright light.
Other paintings of Liverpool are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
If I were a betting man I’d say late afternoon sunlight rather than early morning? Beautifully captured, anyway!
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Thanks Matthew, though I dont think you’d get a bookie to accept a bet – not with a bloody great clock in the middle of the painting – about midday I would say.
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Yup, it works, especially the left hand side.
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Yes. Wonderful subtle details and relieves in the buildings.
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Wonderful work, Graham! Very defined, great details, the hues, and tones are very pleasing to the eye!
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Nice street scene, my small city had a building very similar to the one with the clock on it. But it was torn down in the mid 1950s to build an office tower, way before my time. But the clock part of it was moved to a local park.
Very good detailing in this painting, I really like how you captured the people, the signs and the vehicles.
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Thanks Shawn. We’ve lost a lot of buildings to town planners too – in Liverpool they also lost a lot to bombing.
As for the street furniture, I think you need all of them to give it life and not look ominous like something by de Chirico.
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