Grey Street Print
A New print of the classic view of Grey Street Spring, Newcastle upon Tyne capturing the sweeping curve and the Theatre Royal.
It’s 22 years since I first painted this amazing view of Newcastle’s Grey Street. Over the years I’ve captured it in all the seasons.
One of the versions of Grey Street Spring was painted on a Saturday morning
and in 2011 was featured on BBC’s “Show me the Monet”.
Artist’s Tips
It’s often helpful for anyone keen on painting to see how other artists tackle a subject. On Saturday 4th September, I was doing a painting of Grey Street for a demonstration at Waterstones book shop in Emerson Chambers. Earlier that week, I called in and spent about 40 minutes on the preliminary sketch book watercolour above.
After drawing out the basic composition in my studio, I was ready to start the demonstration. The first photograph shows the initial wash of yellow made up of lemon yellow and raw Sienna. This helps to take away the stark white of the paper and set the tones for the rest of the painting.
Once dry, I then began to select specific shadow areas and the sky with washes of Manganese Blue, Paynes Grey and a touch of purple, leaving selected areas untouched where the sun catches the buildings and paving.
I managed to accomplish more than I had hoped for in the time I was there. The fun part was really enjoying rendering the foreground building in a rather loose, impressionistic style, picking out various aspects of the wonderful Georgian architecture on Grey Street. As the scene was constantly changing, it was important to keep the brush marks free.
Grey Street Spring Original Painting is available
“So many contrasts in one painting! You have the languid, relaxed, sunny morning, somehow epitomised in the flag. Then you have the permanence of the historic buildings with both an optimistic stateliness and a kind of foreboding one.
Then you have the no-nonsense bustle of folk swiftly moving to work, united in their haste yet alone. And then this lovely little group of pigeons pecking away”. Lex Loizides, South Africa