Battersea Under Chelsea – Original Painting

Battersea Under Chelsea – Original painting

About the image:

Being from Manchester, I had no idea how close Battersea Power station was to Chelsea Bridge. In my mind the two have very different images. One a clean, flash symbol of luxury life and the other with the daily grind of the power plant. True Battersea Power station was decommissioned in 1983 but it’s image is synonymous with industry and productivity. There may now be far more glamourous plans afoot for it but it was not always so.

I first saw a picture of Battersea on the Animals Album by Pink Floyd.  An image of neglect but a symbol of everyday resilience. It has intrigued me ever since. Natually it was high on my list of industrial buildings to paint. So when I knew I’d be heading nearby for the Affordable Art Fair, I armed myself with camera and set of.

As I say, the proximity to the “posh” end of town was surprising. It’s a lot cleaner than I was expecting too. But otherwise, it was worth the effort.

The image is created using masking fluid, then painted with a watercolour wash and covered with cling film. Once this is removed the picture is further developed using acrylic inks and building up layers, which are left to dry before the masking is removed to reveal the final picture.