London · 2024
London Bridge 1/5 is the paint created during my visit to London.
This piece is part of my collection. Originals will soon be available to buy online — write to me in the meantime.
The subject
Ask anyone to picture a London bridge and they see this one: two Gothic towers linked high across the Thames, a roadway that splits and lifts to let the ships through. Strictly it is Tower Bridge — and it is the one I drew.
Opened in 1894, it was a wonder of Victorian engineering: a bascule bridge whose two halves still tilt up to let tall vessels pass, dressed in stone to harmonise with the Tower of London beside it.
People the world over call it ’London Bridge’ — the plain bridge of that name is just upstream and far less showy — and I have kept the affectionate mistake in the title.
I painted it face-on, the two towers in red, the river a sweep of blue beneath, the high walkway strung between them.
The bridge the whole world pictures when it hears ’London’ — two towers and a river full of light.
The drawing is bold and simple: ink for the towers and the span, red and blue washes for the stone and the water, splatter for the sparkle of the Thames.
First of a set of five — the opening statement of a bridge I kept coming back to.
See also · London London Bridge 2/5 · London Bridge 3/5 · The London Big Ben