York Minster Yard - Original painting

The view from the top of the Central Tower of York Minster is breathtaking.

York Minster Yard is an open space on the south side of the minster where crowds of tourists gather to take photos and linger a while on the steps before entering the minster.

Artistic licence.

You can't actually see much of the yard from the tower because it is obscured by the roof of the south transept so I prepared some reference material at ground level to help me complete the scene.

Minster Yard is shown in the foreground of the painting and just above that you can see the roofs of High Petergate to the right, Low Petergate to the left and Stonegate which runs to the top right.

Apart from the spectacular distant views from the tower, I was first attracted to the cluster of rooftops clad in the traditional clay pantiles. These tiles probably came from the tile manufacturer near Barton on the south bank of the river Humber where there are rich reserves of grey alluvial clay which turns a beautiful terracotta colour when fired.

Choosing the colour palette.

It is the terracotta colour which determined the colour palette for the painting. The only other predominant colour used is ultramarine blue. It is remarkable how much visual impact can be achieved with just two complementary colours.

Note: Complementary refers to the full complement of the three primary colours. Eg: the red and yellow mix in orange plus the blue. Not to be confused with complimentary. The colours are not just being nice to one another.

Artistic development. The long game,

The observant person will notice that the painting is populated with a large crowd of people in the foreground. I hadn't included many people in the painting at first because my main focus was on the rooftops and many architectural styles of the buildings.

Later on in my painting career I began painting crowds of people so it was only a matter of time before more people were added to the scene for added interest.

This is one painting which I will be sad to sell but it is time for someone else to enjoy it.

The painting is presented on a gallery box canvas. Unframed.

Size: 90 x 90 x 4 cms (36 x 36 x 1.5 ins)

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