There will always be an England

England will, no doubt, always be there despite Brexit and other world upheavals. My newest scene celebrates the splendid show that is London: iconic Big Ben, bright red double-decker buses, historic Tower of London, and the London Eye, all lined up above the stately Thames. I did my sketch on an August day in 2017, standing on one bridge looking down the river across several others, keeping an eye on the weather that as often as not requires an umbrella.

I wanted this to be a relatively simple scene, in part to counter the weighty gravitas of some of these landmarks. It's part of my style in any case; a slight wink and nudge, especially at grand architecture that takes itself a mite too seriously. I wanted the British flag in the picture, but as I don't always think of the details when I'm doing the sketch, it was lucky to find I had two of them ready and waiting! 

 To begin I blocked out the basic neutral colors - blue/gray sky, gray bridge, green foliage, plus a brighter blue barge as a peripheral accent. Next, a deep teal for the river and stronger colors for the main characters. When I painted the tour boats, which on the Thames are predominantly white, it became clear that two were too many, that they were too much of a feature and took away from the point of the scene. So - the beauty of art as opposed to photography - I just took one out. That is, in fact, one of the best aspects of my approach to drawing and painting these scenes: they are accurate to the reality and spirit of a place, but I feel free to take liberties to enhance and emphasize my take on it. I get so many nice comments on the freedom of my style - that flexibility is part of it.

The final scene, LONDON LANDMARKS, shown matted and framed. All my International Scenes are limited editions of 100, personally signed. I hope you like this one - let me know!
Find it on my International Series London & UK page
and on my Etsy shop Lines and Places