Unknown Sculpture, Canary Wharf, London

(Unknown) Sculpture, Canary Wharf, London  © Peter Gander 2012

I’ve had my eye on drawing this one for a while as I pass it daily from CanaryWharf Pier. Sadly I couldn’t find a nearby plaque with the sculptor’s name, so I can’t be terribly informative. But it’s quite a raw-looking piece, with cut angles from the sculptors’ knife visible all over, like it’s just been made from a huge block of clay. This faceted look translates well to cross-hatching with the biro in small chunks of light and shade. Drawn at West India Avenue, Canary Wharf, London. Bic biro on card and digital colour.

Sketched in the city: Victoria Railway Station, London

Victoria Station, London © Peter Gander

There’s not a great deal of time beyond a soup or a sarnie at lunchtime to spend sketching, especially when I am trying to be conscientious now I am employed as a freelancer. No more two hour lunches! Thus today I found myself with about half an hour, long enough to do the line drawing for this painting. Believe it or not, I painted it on my return journey home after work to Kent on the train, as I have more than an hour’s trip. I had to wait until the train lost a few passengers, however, as initially it was rather cramped. I referred to a photo I had taken on my phone for colours and tone. The linework was scratched in with a fine Edding waterproof pen. I say scratched in as I don’t really enjoy the very un-smooth sensation such pens convey. I could have used a pencil, of course, but didn’t have one on me. I like subtelty sometimes and you can’t be subtle with a single weight pen. However, after a mix of good old Winsor & Newton Payne’s grey (I use haf-pans when out and about) a touch of black, Prussian blue and some warm, earthy colours, it looked a treat. I only had my travel brush with me, a big filbert, and was glad of the lack of choice it gave me, so I was bold with my brushtrokes. Abstaining from the temptation to fill in the background meant I preserved a good balance of light and dark, essential to keep the essence of what it was that struck me by the scene in the first place. Winsor & Newton watercolour on Grain Fin NOT 150 gsm paper.