Union Street, Aberdeen

One of the hazards of being a driving instructor, which I was for a while, is having students forget about lessons! This happened often, and on this day my whole afternoon suddenly became a blank sheet! I took the opportunity to go sketching in Aberdeen's most famous street - Union Street. This sketch has waited for about 4 years to be turned into a full painting, but here it is finally: 'Late Afternoon, Union Street', watercolour, 15 x 10". It's a pretty classic view of this pretty but busy street and the only thing changed from reality is the location of the streetlight at right: I was actually leaning on it to do the sketch but felt it would be a useful addition to add 'weight' to the right hand side of the painting without darkening it. The style of the painting is fairly loose, but with enough detail to be faithful to the subject. The shoppers, and the foreground, are largely undetailed to avoid cluttering the painting but I wanted to convey the hustle and bustle of a busy street! I also wanted to include an accurate description of the Aberdeen Town House and County Hall, at right, partly because they are a fairly iconic part of the view, and partly because I just think they are very attractive, despite going seemingly unnoticed by passers-by.