Catherine Booth Hospital Silhouette

There is a saying in English "easier said than done" which could also apply to some painting subjects. In this case, the sprawling Catherine Booth Hospital nearby our house was backlit by the sun as usual. A little bit ominous, scary even, the hospital is built from red bricks and solid stone inlays. I've always wanted to paint the scene, but the scope of the structure and the fact that it is almost always back lit make it a difficult painting subject. After 35 years of painting experience, I know what can go wrong in a painting like this, for example, the brick colour has to be dark but still high chroma. Its tempting to add blue or black to burnt sienna but that will make the product dull and unappealing. Instead, I mixed red ochre (PR101), perylene maroon (PR179) and quinacridone purple (PV55). Where the bricks are even darker I dabbed in phthalo green (PG7). For the yellow-grey stone, the mixture was similar but with more green and a touch of yellow mixed in. Composition wise, a back lit scene will usually be bland because its all in shadow, so I emphasized the orange light over the front door, and made the windows greenish for some colour contrast. I still want to do a larger version to capture the full impact of the hospital, even at dusk or night would be neat. With the weather improving I should be able to increase the scale and detail of the paintings as compared to winter. 

Catherine Booth Hospital Silhouette, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024