Description

Forever Building Skywards is a striking Birmingham cityscape drawing that reflects the city’s ever-changing skyline. Using pastel pencils on blue Canson paper

I have witnessed some of the most amazing and diverse skies in the centre of Birmingham. This evening it was a delicious blue. So blue I needed to use the actual colour of the paper to do it justice.

Using a low street level, I have used pastel pencils to depict the towering building site with its cranes. These are reflected within the glass windows of the adjacent building on the right. Meanwhile, the traffic rumbles towards us, appearing from under Snow Hill Station track in the distance. The far tower was glistening gold, kissed by the dying sun.

Inspiration for Forever Building Skywards:

Birmingham has a reputation for forever building, often knocking down iconic buildings such as the beautiful old Snow Hill station, in the name of progress. This is a different view of the busy Great Charles Street Queensway, looking up to the newest creations. There is also a lone figure, admiring the view and standing on the pedestrian footbridge. I have used this vantage point for several other artworks.

Techniques and media used:

Dramatic perspective was my main priority, although pastel pencils are quite thick and less precise than colour pencils, but I believe they have more life and character.

Again, using a ‘View within a View’ technique, the footbridge frames the activity with the distant cars. I also wanted the image to fade out at the edges, leaving the pastels quite sketchy. This draws one’s eye back into the detail.

My palette of blues, greys and purples allows the image to recede, whilst the complementary yellows and warmer tones highlight the last glowing reflections of the sun. I have used fixative, but sparingly, and not too close to the surface, as it can dissolve the image.

Pastels are notoriously challenging to frame. Any good framer like mine would use a double-edged mount. The inside one is turned in to leave a little gap for any residue of pastel to fall into it and not sit on the frame.