Tower Bridge

I’m ashamed that its taken me three months living in lovely Wapping before finding the time to take on Tower Bridge. It’s only a hop and skip away from my house,  but London has just been too cold before Christmas. Now January, snow gone, last weekend showed a hint of warmth and oh my, what stunning winter sunlight in the skies. But brisk, sitting by the Thames and facing its breezes for more than half an hour requires some stamina, but at least its a good exercise in making me work at speed and loosen up, breaking away from my older fiddly style of drawing. So here it is: one morning, one midday, one night time, one sunset, across a couple of days. I’m so used to recording things once, but returning to the same scene several times in different conditions really brought home the changing character of the bridge and the river. I can’t believe how lucky I am to live virtually next door and pass this every day. The last picture shows off my new toy and a new ambition, a Christmas present to myself of a pochade box, a portable easel for painting on the move. My first outdoor painting was done in the freezing cold, colder as the sun sank to turn London a delicate pink. A pretty twee looking result, but hey that goes for most sunsets….