Urban Inspiration- Trip to Coventry

I already have a plan for the technique I am going to use in my final piece but I am lacking a good image to work from. It needs to be of a building that has lots of windows for the light box idea to be fully exploited. It also needs to be a domineering and powerful image to grasp the viewers attention. I decided that I was not going to find anything matching this description in Nuneaton, so i took a trip to nearby Coventry.

Going by the guidance of a friend who works in the city, I visited several apartment blocks. By having them as the subject, it would in-keep with my previous paintings and maximize the use of light through the many windows these buildings have.

I was looking at light boxes and the way they are used in galleries. One of my teachers, Jan, had used these before in the Walsall Gallery and had some photos from which I was able to better understand there usage.

Queens Road Flats

Inspired by the 1920's block of flats along Queens Road in Nuneaton, I wanted to start drawings from it due to the interesting composition and the changes in light and shadow across the building. This started as a drawing on A1 and using oil paints I built up layers of colour and dry-brushed tone over the top. This was edited on iPhoto to give it the blurred edge.

David Hepher

David Hepher is a painter that works on a large scale often onto concrete. As my work up to now has been focused on English apartment blocks these paintings immediately stood out. Because he works on such a large scale, it is easier to add greater detail into his work. The finished results are very photo-realist paintings. What particularly interests me is the personal touch he adds to each window or room; with different curtains or with washing strung outside. Contrary to this personalization is a slight eerie feeling, due to the lack of any actual people in the painting. For buildings that obviously house great numbers people and even show evidence of it, having a lack of inhabitants gives his work a slight '28 days later' feel.

Edward Hopper

Hopper was an artist who painted a scene of 1940's and 50's urban America. His style reminds me of Georgia O'Keeffe in the way he uses oil paints and the way he represents light. What interests me in his work is the idea of buildings acting as a sort of stage to which people can peer into. His paintings show a clear definition between the outside and the inside. The second painting down of the cafe is a good example of this as it represents the inside of the cafe as a warm, cosy bubble, whilst the outside appears as cold and dark. This gives the painting much character and drama.