Lowry's works - LS Lowry - a contextual study

Written critical studies of some of Lowry's works, with accompanying sketches and visual studies.

Regent Street, Lytham | St Augustine's Church | The Fever Van | Back to Lowry's works index

'Regent Street, Lytham'

1922, Oil on Canvas

Lowry did not just paint town scenes with large chimneys, mills and hundreds of people walking around. Regent Street, Lytham (Right) is a good example of a Lowry rural scene. However, there are still buildings present in the distance, which form the central focal point of the piece.

Lowry has tried to keep the colour scheme as true to life as possible, with shades of green dominating the canvas, and mostly white buildings. As in his oil on canvas piece Peel Park, Lowry has painted the trees in the background by using a mixture of green, yellow and blue in order to distinguish different shades according to where the light is. The sky has been created by using mainly white, but there are highlights of yellow and grey which help to create impressions of clouds.

In my water-soluble crayon interpretation of this piece, I have attempted to recreate closely the colours, tones and techniques used by Lowry using the same palette of vermilion, yellow ochre, flake white, Prussian blue and black.

Back to top

'St Augustine's Church'

Pencil on Paper

This pencil drawing is a good example of Lowry’s favourite medium – graphite pencil. It also one of the many church sketches Lowry produced. I have replicated this piece, only in fine line felt tip pen washed over with water (right). I have aimed to recreate the different directions of pencil marks with which Lowry has attempted to depict the various textures of stone on the church walls, and the geometrically straight lines which make up the outline of the building. However I could not reproduce the grubby fingerprints with which Lowry presumably created the sky in the same way as I could if used a pencil.

This pencil drawing is a good example of Lowry’s favourite medium – graphite pencil. It also one of the many church sketches Lowry produced. I have replicated this piece, only in fine line felt tip pen washed over with water (Above right). I have aimed to recreate the different directions of pencil marks with which Lowry has attempted to depict the various textures of stone on the church walls, and the geometrically straight lines which make up the outline of the building. However I could not reproduce the grubby fingerprints with which Lowry presumably created the sky in the same way as I could if used a pencil.

I have, however, created a pencil drawing of a church in the style of Lowry (below centre) which includes some of the techniques he used in his various works. For example, I have used the side of a pencil to block in roof areas quickly, and quite thick outlines. Also present in this sketch are some people entering the church. I felt it important to include them as Lowry’s philosophy was:

‡ “A street without people is as dead as muck” Lowry, taken from the TV programme ‘Rolf on Art’, BBC programmes.

In a similar vein to my pencil church sketch, I have also produced an oil paint piece of a church in a similar style to Lowry. This time, however, the image is based on real life – specifically St Peter’s church in Hindley. It is not entirely accurate, however, as this piece is my representation of what I think it would have looked like 75 years ago, about the time that Lowry would have been painting. This means that the landscape is dotted with industrial mills and smoke billowing from giant chimneys, and there is an absence of later twentieth century technologies, such as electric street lamps and cars. There are a number of people walking about, going about their daily lives, a feature of all Lowry street scenes.

Visual Church analyses

Above: My church image in the style of Lowry. Pencil on paper. Left: My oil paint image of St. Peter's church. Right: St Augustine's church, pencil on paper.

Back to top

'The Fever Van'

Oil on Canvas, 1935

Perhaps not one of Lowry’s most famous works, but typical of a Lowry street scene. Similarities with Street scene can be seen – the same vanishing point technique has been employed. Also, placed in the background is a church, and its faded colour ensures it is not the main focus of attention in the picture, though it is quite large. Attention is drawn to the hordes of people rushing around, and looking to see what is happening.

People are coming out of their houses to catch a glimpse of this presumably rare sight. Even today, when an ambulance appears in your street, much attention is drawn to it, as it is not an everyday occurrence. However in the time of Lowry when motorised transport was not as developed as it is today, you would not expect to see an ambulance often. Present in the picture are a number of chimney stacks filling the sky with smoke, as you would expect from a Lowry picture.

I have viewed the original painting whilst it was on display at the Walker Gallery in Liverpool, and have composed a brief sketch of it, showing the positions of the buildings and people in the piece. Having seen an actual Lowry original painting, I could also relate to the comments of other people, who generally say his paintings are thick with oil from the many layers of paint Lowry applied to try and get his painting right.

Back to top

Home | Previous Page | Next Page