St Martin in the Fields, William Logsdail
Link is to zoomable version on Google Art Project; downloadable file on Wikimedia Commons, original is in the Tate Britain.
I love the atmosphere in this painting of London’s Trafalgar Square by Victorian painter William Logsdail — the wetness of the stone, the textures of fabrics, and the contrast between the muted grays and touches of higher chroma color.
The yellow of the girls flowers just seem like a bright uplifting point in a whole world of wet and gray!
I have always wondered how can one paint such fine straight lines in oil painting. What’s the secret?
I can’t speak to Logsdail’s actual technique, but one possibility is to use a artist’s bridge, and run the brush along it as though using a pen with a T-square (takes some practice):
http://www.dickblick.com/categories/handrests/
Another possibility is to lay out preliminary drawing in ink or charcoal (graphite does not play well with oil), using drafting tools.
You can also use artist’s tape to make a straight edge, and lift it off after painting. This can only be done on a dry part of the surface.
