London calling

Professional artist and painting tutor MAX PANKS shows you how he painted his favourite London street scene in watercolour

Ever since I first saw the sun setting over London’s St Martin’s Lane, it has been my favourite place to paint. There’s so much happening there: from the iconic London architecture seen in Trafalgar Square’s St Martin in the Fields, to the flash of red in the canopies below, which give this road an almost juxtaposed, Parisian feel.

This landscape lends itself so effortlessly to the artist who would describe its beauty on paper. I love the balance in hue, temperature and shapes, and with a little artistic licence, one can achieve a work of art that has the viewer’s eye dancing around the painting, wishing they could step through into the warm summer evening of the city.

This tutorial aims to describe my approach to a watercolour landscape. I generally work in four distinct steps: the sketch (or the skeleton of the painting), the first wash, capturing the shadows and finally, breathing life into the painting with subtle details. Living in the city for over ten years, I’ve become quite fascinated and moved by the big contrast between light and dark, hot and cool, and am often mesmerised by hard diagonal shadows that cascade down the brickwork of London’s rich and historic place in time.

1 THE SKETCH

I generally always start with the horizon line, slightly above or below the centre of the page. At this point, I’m trying to simplify the scene and establish the biggest shapes within the landscape. It’s important not to be too precise here as ultimately, I want to finish with an impression of what is in front of me and not a replica. I want to give the image the freedom to change and exaggerate as it passes through my intellect and intuition, down through my arm and onto the paper.

2 COMPOSITIONAL ASPECTS

I want to make sure there is balance across the landscape. I may move the position of such things like lamp posts, cars and figures, allowing them to complement each other. I do not worry about the pencil lines being visible as I come to the end of the painting later. I think that seeing some of the sketch beneath the paint adds to the charm of watercolour and can be as important as the paint itself.

3 THE FIRST WASH

Starting from the top down, this is the most freeing part of the watercolour process. Here is where I can establish the lightest parts of the painting, which will basically be the sky, and anything the sunlight hits directly. Using the sketch as a guide, I’m placing the first layer of colour across the paper. The sky, often referred to as ‘the eyes of a painting,’ is one of the biggest shapes here. This is where I always begin.

4 KEEP SOME OF THE WHITE PAPER

These flashes of white will become highlights later. For instance, the windscreen of a car and the sunlight bouncing off the shoulders of a dark figure. I’m using the large squirrel mop brush; I like these because they hold a lot of water and still maintain a good point. They’re so versatile in that way that I can practically paint most of the work with this one brush. Finishing the first wash, I make sure I echo the colour of the sky in the foreground. This helps frame the composition and adds weight to the bottom.

5 ESTABLISHING THE SHADOWS

Once the first wash is dry, it’s time to start picking out the darker areas (the shadows). Now is the time when we really see the painting start to take shape. Picking out the dark shapes, we can create depth as we compose a dance between the light and the dark and hot and cool hues.▸

6 THINK ABOUT THE TEMPERATURE

When I teach watercolour, I always say that temperature is more important than colour; it’s where the emotion is. I’m also conscious of leaving some of the first wash untouched, allowing it to describe the sun as it bounces off the side of buildings and traffic.

7 PORTRAYING DISTANCE

Another way of making sure that the painting has depth is by painting less value into the objects in the background than those in the foreground. For instance, by applying less pigment to the furthest building visible here (St Martin in the Fields), we can create the illusion of distance and add further depth. It’s almost as if the building is fading into the background. This also helps bring the closer objects further forward, making them pop.

8 PULLING THE PAINTING TOGETHER

Now the magic happens. This is where we breathe life into the painting and introduce directional lines, lamp posts, figures, shadows and other small details which lead the viewer’s eye into the scene. We are orchestrating the journey across the landscape with our carefully placed compositional tools. Dry brush strokes, flashes of colour and high contrast between light and dark give wonderful movement and create the illusion of speed and bustle, helping to convey the feeling of a busy London street scene. ▫