Crisp morning, Piccadilly

Crisp morning, Piccadilly. Original plein air oil paintings of the Piccadilly by UK artist Nick Grove. Large oil paintings of Piccadilly, London.

Just a stones throw from my hotel, I turned a corner to find this scene. It’s very early in the morning, the air is crisp, and the roads and pathways are still relatively quiet. This is the only time it’s relatively quiet here before the throngs of tourists flock to this area. The sun on my back is warming, and the sky is very blue, which promises a great day ahead. There’s a big puddle on the pathway, as if it rained last night.

I begin to paint, and before long, I’ve mapped out and blocked in the bulk of the painting. I make a start on the more detailed areas at ground level because I know my view will be obscured shortly. More and more workers are emerging from the underground, and before long, I’m getting in people’s way. I have enough, I feel, to complete the painting at leisure. I decide to move on down Haymarket, looking for my next painting.

From my article in ‘The Artist Magazine’, Sept 2024:

‘London is a constant source of inspiration for me and I’ve spent a lot of time painting there over the last three years. Capturing the architecture and scale of near and far objects gives me the opportunity to flex my drawing skills and play with interesting compositions. I nearly always use the sight-size method when painting en plein air. As I did for this painting of Piccadilly on a crisp morning in January.

It’s a bit of a hassle getting the easel in exactly the right spot but well worth it. It means you can zoom through the drawing stage of the painting and double check any measurement or angle at any time during the painting process.

I was confronted with this wonderfully fresh view of Piccadilly Circus as soon as I’d exited my hotel just as the sun had come up. I instantly decided to paint it. As the sun crept higher and higher I was careful to block in the tonal ranges just as the face of the Swan and Edgar building had both light and shadow on it. By the time I’d finished, the scene was full of figures scurrying off to work but I chose to stick with the first impression I’d experienced and kept it quiet.’

18x24in
Oil on canvas
Framed

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