In my studio I keep a little black book of ideas and scribbled suggestions for scenes to work on. I also have a drawer that houses a rather messy collection of initial sketches and compositions… usually self initiated illustrations that i’ve tried to start between paid commissions and projects. This pile grows slowly and steadily over time but occasionally I can riffle through and pull out something to work on. Something that I was excited about, but hadn’t yet found the time to pursue. This week a Royal Albert Hall painting was pulled from the middle of the stack with a flourish after an enquiry came in for a scene featuring that beautiful building. Here’s my composition sketch…
And then below you can see the finished illustration. I’ve never had the pleasure of attending a concert at The Royal Albert Hall, but here’s my rather vibrant painting of this beautiful building from the outside. The rounded facade could have allowed for many different angles, but I decided to include a version with the steps leading up to Albert’s statue. An evening scene also felt best… trying to capture the glow of the architecture illuminated by spotlights.⠀
The finished artwork was 28 x 28 cm, acrylic paint with graphic pen details on acrylic paper. If you’re a fan of watching paint dry there’s a time-lapse video recording of the process from the studio.