Admiralty Arch, 2017

At the top of the Mall (or is it the bottom?) stands Admiralty Arch.

Resplendent with the Royal Navy white ensign flags – all 8 of them. Historic British architecture at its best.

Looking at the painting the features are clear but, on closer inspection, details begin to merge with one another.

The arch itself dominates, so large it hardly fits onto the page. There’s a metaphor there somewhere. The busy road is at a standstill, the only thing moving are pedestrians and cyclists. So typical of London traffic, or so it seems sometimes.

Three cyclists can be found but the third is hard to make out, blending in with a line of cars, many of them taxies. Ochre and brown colours predominate. Crowned with a strip of bright blue sky with spots of red on the flags and bikes. More colour in the cyclists yellow high-visibility jacket and the woman’s purple dress and notice the bright blue in the bottom left. Catch it at the right angle and you’ll make out iridescence in the electric blue cars and the cyclists striped jumper.
With thick black ink sitting above the page, forming shiny embossed lines and squiggles that provide definition and depth. Black marks pick out features such as the railings and lamp posts. Although one post has been missed in the painting process. I decided to leave it as it is given how busy the painting is and it is busy isn’t it?

Care: Display under glass. Keep print away from moisture, heat and bright lights or direct sunlight

The image is created with masking fluid before painting it with watercolour wash covered with clingfilm. Once this is removed the picture is further developed using acrylic inks which are left to dry before the masking is removed to reveal the final picture.