For this exercise I was to select a drawing from my previous sketches of London to develop in colour, and from them and my photos of Trafalgar Square I chose a favourite building, the beautiful Admiralty pub because I really like the details of the windows and roof. The building is magical, almost mystical, with so many beautiful architectural details.
My sketches and photos were taken on a cold day last November at around 3.30pm when the natural light was already quite faded and I wanted to make the focal point the lights coming from the pub windows. There were few people around at the time by London standards, though of course many vehicles were passing by, and though it was starting to get dark the street lights were not yet very bright so there were few shadows on the outside of the building.
I used A3 cartridge paper and for my limited palette I tested several options and blends of colours, settling in the end on Sanguine and Sepia sticks and charcoal pencil. At first I did a careful outline of the building with pencil with masking fluid to protect my lights from contamination.
I think I managed to capture the mystical atmosphere of the building and the lights coming from the pub windows, giving the feeling that groups of friends and colleagues were inside having a relaxing drink. I feel that I also managed to create a sense of depth on the right side of the building to give the impression of the curve of the building.
