Great Northern Railway Company – Original Painting

What is it that appeals to you about your favourite place? I have many favourite places, but there are some things that they have in common.

Great lighting makes a painting.

I’m attracted to many types of lighting, for this one it’s the night light.

The city at night takes on the charm, sometimes lacking in the daytime. Even the most drab of scenes can appear magical with the right lighting. In the Great Northern Railway Company, we see a building on fire with light. The colour so vibrant, rich hues, from Red through orange to gold and then white.

Five round orbs of light mark street lights, then the column of light rising up in the apartment/office/hotel building beyond. There are even a few lights in the Windows. The light is reflected in the wet paving of the square and even on the metal handrails leading up dark steps.

Atmosphere in a painting teases out curiosity. What’s going on here?

The scene appears deserted but is it? I fancy that I can see figures in the distance, between the bright lights, reflections and hidden shadows.

I could look at the original photograph to find out, but part of me wants to maintain the mystery though. Should I tell you? Or would you rather speculate as well?

Great Architecture is my artistic inspiration

I held off creating this painting for a while but I’m glad I finally painted it. So much has worked out better in real life, than had in my imagination. My only regret is that it should have been bigger.

Maybe I’ll revisit it, only time will tell? I must research the building and share my findings. That it’s a landmark in Manchester, is a given. It’s close to Central Station. And there are lots of railway buildings in that area.

Curiosity about the History

If I’m inspired to paint a building or place, I need to know more about it. If I don’t know, I speculate and when I research the place, I discover fascinating things.

A little background history of the building courtesy of Wikipedia

The Great Northern Warehouse is the former railway goods warehouse of the Great Northern Railway in Manchester city centre, which was refurbished into a leisure complex in 1999. The building is at the junction of Deansgate and Peter Street. It was granted Grade II* listed building status in 1974.

According to Historic England, the warehouse is a “unique survival of a three-way railway goods exchange station, serving the railway, canal and road networks of the Manchester region.