In our next painting project I am planning to take you to Belgravia for a little light shopping!
I don't go to London very often (despite it being less than an hour away) as I find it just too busy, too noisy and too 'peopley' (not a real word but apt). However, on the occasions that I do venture to the big smoke, I always keep my eyes open for painting project inspiration!
I took this image when a friend and I went to the Beatrix Potter exhibition at the V&A in October last year.
It was like a magical mystery tour as we navigated our way through the streets of Belgravia and South Kensington. At every turn magnificent Regency houses rose up to meet us, whilst the tree-lined squares offered us a glimpse of the secret gardens hidden behind. When the houses gave way to more commercial properties there was an amazing array of independent, up market shops brimming with kerb appeal, enticing us in (we resisted fairly admirably!)
I love architecture and in particular shop fronts as they often lok as though they want to tell you a story. In recent years, shop exteriors have become increasingly decorative, with many owners going as far as employing professional companies to 'dress' the outsides, (much like one would dress a set on stage). In this street alone, there were a plethora of independent shops all vying for our attention ~ but it was this village store that caught my eye. There's just something about fruit and vegetable display which transports you back to a time when every town had a greengrocer, a butcher, a baker or a village store, where you weren't one of the masses but a valued customer.
In our painting we will use an illustration style to create an ink pen drawing which will later be embellished with watercolour. To begin, I initially sketched out the image in pencil to give it more of a freehand feel and then I applied my fineliner pen.
As you might imagine, the drawing for this project will take a little longer than usual!
So I thought, whilst I get on and create the videos you might like to make a bit of an early start. Be warned ~ even if you are choosing to trace this image, be prepared for it to take more time!
If you would like to get your drawing ready, feel free to download the attachment of the outline drawing below or if you would like to draw the image for yourself, free hand, you can download the original photograph. Hint: we will be working mainly onto dry so you could use a single sheet of paper and draw your image onto your paper with the fineliner using a light box. If you choose this option don't use the pen for the objects inside the shop (use pencil). You could also use pencil just for the 'Village store' name if you don't want it to appear too bold ~ the choice is yours!
Remember ~ this is your painting, feel free to crop the image. If you have less time, or if you're not a fan of lots of drawing, you might like to omit the two large windows above the shop and focus just on the actual shop front. You could even omit the entrance on the left too.
Hint: If you're not a fan of masking fluid omitting the brickwork above the shop would also be a good option for you as we will rule out the brick pattern and use masking fluid to define the mortar!
Keep a look out for the launch of the full tutorial coming next week!
Happy Drawing!
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