Many artists have been inspired by the hustle and bustle of city life. Whether it’s the architecture of city buildings or the atmosphere of municipal living, artworks depicting the urban environment tell us many stories (see N). Artists like Edward Hopper depict how lonely big city life can be, others focus on the more glamorous side of urban living using bold and bright colours.

Stephen Cullen, Looking Down Grafton Street, 2001

ACTIVITY: CITYSCAPE SKYLINE

Think about city living. Would you like it or not - why do you think this? What kind of city buildings can you think of? Where would the noisiest parts of the city be and where might you be able to find peace and quiet? Find some interesting textured surfaces that you can take rubbings from. Place a piece of paper over the surface and use wax crayons to create a rubbing of the textured surface. Look for different textures - particularly ones with lines, or geometric shapes. Cut your rubbings up into sections to create tower blocks, offices, and large buildings. Glue down your shapes onto a sheet of paper to build up your cityscape skyline. Layer the shapes on top of each other to give depth. Add interest to your collage by drawing in smaller details like windows and roof tiles.

MATERIALS

• Wax crayons
• Thin but strong paper (i.e. photocopy/printer paper)
• Thick/strong paper
• Watercolour paint
• Water pots
• PVA or glue sticks
• Drawing pens

Lucy Pratt, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton

TIPS

Print off some cityscape photographs to help you plan your collage. After taking the surface rubbings, use watercolours to paint the paper with a contrasting colour, making the buildings feel more substantial.

Artist Inspiration: Andrew Haines, Edward Hopper, William Hogarth, Camille Pissarro, Stephen Cullen, Lucy Pratt

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