Turner, Monet and me – painting the Houses of Parliament

I’m in London and could not resist painting this scene. Monet sketched it often during his time in London between 1900 and 1905, although from a slightly different viewpoint. Turner was an eyewitness of the fire that almost destroyed the building in 1834 and painted a couple of pictures of the fire. So in painting the Palace of Westminster I am standing on the shoulders of giants!

Claudio Monet series The Houses of Parliament (1900-1905) http://www.tuttartpitturasculturapoesiamusica.com

We wandered to the embankment and just so happened upon a bar situated on a moored boat – the perfect place to see the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben across the river, and at the same time sip a pint.

Monet painted the buildings in silhouette, so I began in a similar fashion, blocking in the darks and leaving the bridge, water and sky as light. This allowed me to check the composition and see if it was strong enough to carry the painting. I painted on a 5″ x7″ MDF board held on my Pokitbox pochade box.

A bit more blocking in, this time in colour helped to establish the scene.

The Houses of Parliament. 19.7.2023

Details, such as they are, were added and the picture is complete. Some things have changed since the age of Turner and Monet – there’s Lambeth Bridge in the foreground, and you can just see the top of the London Eye on the left, but the Houses of Parliament remain distinct and recognisable, even in semi- silhouette.

That was a fun hour. Please give a thumbs up if you liked it.

#enpleinair #Turner #Housesofparliament #london #pochadebox #Pokitbox #Monet #Watermixableoils