Parliament Square Panoramic, London
Mixed media work composed of six 3' x 3' boards. Executed in charcoal and acrylic, with selected oil paint enhancements.
"Parliament Square, London, Panoramic" is a monumental piece, six 3’ x 3’ boards. I’d call it mixed media, but generally, to me, it’s a drawing using charcoal and acrylic paint, with certain areas using oil paint. The drawings were originally done in situ, then transferred to the larger boards.
With this panoramic, it was such a fun thing to do, to completely "monotonise" Parliament Square – the centre of UK power – into this dark, brooding, dystopian landscape where people come and go. The lovely thing about drawing this was giving a sense of depth to each board. There were areas with detail like CCTV cameras, cars, and features on Big Ben or Westminster Abbey, which sits in the centre.
Below Westminster Abbey, a couple of skeletons walk past, smoking and talking. To me, the skeletons were a lovely object against this dark background, not because it was dystopian – that wasn’t my concern. It was the pure joy of using black-and-white, and using skeletons as a beautiful form to emphasise humanity's presence without being bogged down by clothing and other transient things. Skeletons are a beautiful shape, visually more flexible.
There’s a tongue-in-cheek area with a skeleton smoking, which draws memories for me of Van Gogh’s "Skeleton Smoking a Cigarette." That painting is such a funny picture; I imagine Van Gogh was playing with the fun of it. Obviously, in a gravitas picture, a skeleton tells of life's transient nature, a morality tale. But I love how Van Gogh put a cigarette in the skeleton – it’s a poignant "two fingers up to death." This is partly why I use skeletons; they bring an exciting pun on life, not trying to be too serious.
As we move along the picture from left to right, Westminster Abbey turns into big, bold, black shapes of clouds and trees, which then move our eye into the Home Office and the architecture leading down Whitehall.
Mixed media work composed of six 3' x 3' boards. Executed in charcoal and acrylic, with selected oil paint enhancements.
"Parliament Square, London, Panoramic" is a monumental piece, six 3’ x 3’ boards. I’d call it mixed media, but generally, to me, it’s a drawing using charcoal and acrylic paint, with certain areas using oil paint. The drawings were originally done in situ, then transferred to the larger boards.
With this panoramic, it was such a fun thing to do, to completely "monotonise" Parliament Square – the centre of UK power – into this dark, brooding, dystopian landscape where people come and go. The lovely thing about drawing this was giving a sense of depth to each board. There were areas with detail like CCTV cameras, cars, and features on Big Ben or Westminster Abbey, which sits in the centre.
Below Westminster Abbey, a couple of skeletons walk past, smoking and talking. To me, the skeletons were a lovely object against this dark background, not because it was dystopian – that wasn’t my concern. It was the pure joy of using black-and-white, and using skeletons as a beautiful form to emphasise humanity's presence without being bogged down by clothing and other transient things. Skeletons are a beautiful shape, visually more flexible.
There’s a tongue-in-cheek area with a skeleton smoking, which draws memories for me of Van Gogh’s "Skeleton Smoking a Cigarette." That painting is such a funny picture; I imagine Van Gogh was playing with the fun of it. Obviously, in a gravitas picture, a skeleton tells of life's transient nature, a morality tale. But I love how Van Gogh put a cigarette in the skeleton – it’s a poignant "two fingers up to death." This is partly why I use skeletons; they bring an exciting pun on life, not trying to be too serious.
As we move along the picture from left to right, Westminster Abbey turns into big, bold, black shapes of clouds and trees, which then move our eye into the Home Office and the architecture leading down Whitehall.
Mixed media work composed of six 3' x 3' boards. Executed in charcoal and acrylic, with selected oil paint enhancements.
"Parliament Square, London, Panoramic" is a monumental piece, six 3’ x 3’ boards. I’d call it mixed media, but generally, to me, it’s a drawing using charcoal and acrylic paint, with certain areas using oil paint. The drawings were originally done in situ, then transferred to the larger boards.
With this panoramic, it was such a fun thing to do, to completely "monotonise" Parliament Square – the centre of UK power – into this dark, brooding, dystopian landscape where people come and go. The lovely thing about drawing this was giving a sense of depth to each board. There were areas with detail like CCTV cameras, cars, and features on Big Ben or Westminster Abbey, which sits in the centre.
Below Westminster Abbey, a couple of skeletons walk past, smoking and talking. To me, the skeletons were a lovely object against this dark background, not because it was dystopian – that wasn’t my concern. It was the pure joy of using black-and-white, and using skeletons as a beautiful form to emphasise humanity's presence without being bogged down by clothing and other transient things. Skeletons are a beautiful shape, visually more flexible.
There’s a tongue-in-cheek area with a skeleton smoking, which draws memories for me of Van Gogh’s "Skeleton Smoking a Cigarette." That painting is such a funny picture; I imagine Van Gogh was playing with the fun of it. Obviously, in a gravitas picture, a skeleton tells of life's transient nature, a morality tale. But I love how Van Gogh put a cigarette in the skeleton – it’s a poignant "two fingers up to death." This is partly why I use skeletons; they bring an exciting pun on life, not trying to be too serious.
As we move along the picture from left to right, Westminster Abbey turns into big, bold, black shapes of clouds and trees, which then move our eye into the Home Office and the architecture leading down Whitehall.