Drawing

Working from a printed out a copy of the photo, I drew the basics with an HB pencil quite lightly (the black is turned up to show it more clearly in the photographs). The perspective was exaggerated, and anything that didn’t make sense was left out. I moved the London eye a bit and gave myself another lamp post. My preference is to add a bit of shading to remind me where the whites are.

First washes

The first wash was put on using my messy old 30cm Ikea brush which makes such lovely random marks. I started with some yellow ochre and squirt a bit of Chinese white to one side. I mixed this in to keep the granulation in the background to a minimum. Whilst the wash was still wet I fed in a little madder red and mountain blue and a touch of ultramarine violet, all separately mixed and kept very light with some Chinese white.

As I moved down to the foreground I fed in some Daniel Smith granulating colours Hematite and Piemontite just to give a bit of texture. Then I let it dry whilst I had a cup of tea.

Shadow washes

The next wash is to allow the shadow parts to peek through the stronger areas of colour. I used cobalt blue with a bit of violet and some burnt umber. This was done using a 1” sable flat.

I softened the edges by spraying on water and wiping off unwanted areas with paper towel. Some depth and modelling was added to the Festival hall using yellow ochre and madder red to warm up the concrete.

The figures

The next stage was completed with my favourite brush, a no 20 Perla - it points so well. I flicked in the London eye and sponged off before it became too opaque and added some flesh tones to all the faces.

At this point I decided to make the mid-ground figures face me, so I adjusted the pencil drawing a little.

From now on I dried each bit of work with a hairdryer.

The focal point is the nearest figure and so, as the painting recedes, I painted more loosely and in lighter colours.

I used a sable rigger to paint the branches, spraying water onto the paper in places to give softness to some strokes. The distant trees are just a light blob of colour.

Finishing touches

The final part is the most nerve racking and the most exciting.

I created the lens flair by spraying the building with a fine mist, masking out the foreground with a bit of paper. Then I whipped some of the paint off with a wet cloth.

The strong shadows were added using ultramarine, cobalt and what is left around the palette using a big 5cm sable flat.

All pencil lines were rubbed out and faces were modelled.

I added highlights with Dr Martin’s bleed proof white, and the odd dark bit with quick strokes from a rigger using Moondance with a bit of burnt umber.

Then I stop and look at it for a few days waiting to view it with fresh eyes.

Follow Mark's demonstration to paint a scene at the Ffestiniog Railway