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Cambridge Circus, London is an original oil painting by Nick Grove.
Cambridge Circus holds deep personal significance for me. As a younger man living in the East End, this was the point where I felt I had arrived in London proper. From here the city opens outward—Soho, the theatres, Chinatown, Leicester Square, and Tottenham Court Road all branching away. It remains a place where London reveals itself fully.
I began this painting after dark, setting up my easel between two scaffolding poles and marking the space with a no-entry sign. Shop lighting illuminated the canvas as I worked. Painting at night carries a particular energy—the constant movement, the noise, the sense of exposure. Perhaps even a slight edge of unease enters the work. I have always enjoyed painting London, but night brings an added intensity that feels inseparable from the city itself.
Working under artificial light requires constant adjustment. Because the painting will eventually be seen indoors under mixed lighting conditions, it’s essential to periodically lift it from the easel and check it under different light sources. It’s easy to misjudge tonal relationships in the dark. Highlights—street lamps, headlights—need restraint; their brightness is relative to the surrounding darks. Pure white, used too readily, quickly feels false.
