Professional artist and painting tutor Max Panks shows you how he painted his favourite London street scene

I’m a huge fan of cityscape art and ever since I first saw the sun setting over London?s St Martin?s Lane, it has been my favourite place to paint. There?s so much happening there: from the iconic London architecture seen in Trafalgar Square?s St Martin in the Fields, to the flash of red in the canopies below, which give this road an almost juxtaposed, Parisian feel. This cityscape lends itself so effortlessly to the artist who would describe its beauty on paper. I love the balance in hue, temperature and shapes, and with a little artistic licence, one can achieve a work of art that has the viewer?s eye dancing around the cityscape painting, wishing they could step through into the warm summer evening of the city. 
This tutorial aims to describe my approach to cityscape watercolour paintings. I generally work in four distinct steps: the sketch (or the skeleton of the painting), the first wash, capturing the shadows and finally, breathing life into the painting with subtle details. Living in the city for over 10 years, I?ve become quite fascinated and moved by the big contrast between light and dark, hot and cool, and am often mesmerised by hard diagonal shadows that cascade down the brickwork of London?s rich and historic place in time.

Max’s Materials

Paint: Cass Art Artists? Watercolour Tubes 10ml; Lemon Yellow, Pyrrole Yellow...