Description

Heart of the City is a dynamic drawing of the Birmingham cityscape. It captures the intensity of traffic as it surges out of the Queensway tunnel into the wet, atmospheric night of the city centre.

I have employed a wide range of marks to depict the various textures. These include the sodden tarmac in the foreground, to the more refined rendering of the modern architecture. This includes the iconic library situated in the middle of the scene. Streetlights are animated, and I have even added some of the rain spots which were present in my initial photos.

Inspiration for my drawing, Heart of the City:

I shot the initial photographs whilst crouching down and leaning over the railing of this very busy road. Meanwhile, cars raced towards me, emerging from the bright lights of the underpass on the right-hand side. As a result, it was another wet and windy night in Brum, and the noise was deafening. My heart was racing.

Techniques and media used:

After creating several rough sketches to determine the best dynamic composition for Heart of the City I refined the values and counterbalance between light and dark. Once I had finalised the layout, I began the drawing using very faint lines to establish the correct perspective and proportion.

Next, I primarily used a 2B pencil to develop my visual language. I incorporated hatching, cross-hatching, and more expressive marks, such as dots and scratches, to define various surfaces. Then, I transitioned to softer pencils, such as 6B, for the richer, darker areas.

My goal was to achieve detail without making the work feel overworked. This approach maintained a sense of movement and utilised bright white areas to enhance the energy and vitality of the night.