Abstract & Architectural Works

When developing my architectural works I start with sketching in my sketchbook, which I prefer to do in situ where possible and then I plan out my work with quick composition studies. After this I draw out the design using pencil, pen, graphite or watercolour sticks. I mostly use freehand drawing techniques and occasionally graphic drawing aids such as ruler and compass. The video below shows the first stage of drawing out one of my abstracted architectural paintings.

I paint in Watercolour and acrylic mostly and I sometimes incorporate fragments of collage into my work. The process of creating a painting usually starts with a liberal splash of colour to the background. With a lot of my architecture paintings I use ink pen to draw out the details of the buildings, followed by layers of vibrant watercolour paint. My favourite watercolours at the moment are the St Petersburg ‘white nights’ which are very intense and saturated with pigment.

When creating a more abstract architectural painting I will start with a few very quick sketches to plan out the composition. A background wash of my selected colours is the starting point - followed by carefully drawn decorative details which, I overlap with elements of the interior and exterior. 

I work from my sketchbook and from photos for this process. This is all done in pencil first then permanent ink pen. Next I glue in fragments of collage such as maps, vintage postcards and sheet music. 

Then the lengthy process of painting, usually with acrylic, into the hundreds of sections begins using a range of tones from my colour palette. These large architectural pieces can take upwards of 50 hours to complete.