Here is “The Eagle” 159 Farringdon Road, London, EC1.
I painted this as a commission. My client liked the pub and asked for a picture which showed the liveliness of the place. I sketched it from the other side of the Farringdon Road.
There was certainly a lot of activity in the pub. As you see in the picture, people arrived and occupied at the tables in the street, even though this was October, and quite chilly. The lamppost by the door was soon adorned with a collection of bikes.
Here are some details from the picture:
Here is work in progress:
I completed the pen drawing on location and added the colour later:
Thank you to my client for this commission, and for allowing me to post the picture here.
Jane Sketching 
Did you know that The Eagle, Farringdon Road, EC1 was the first ever ‘Gastro Pub’ in London?
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Hi Abdul – I didn’t know that! Thank you for the information. I haven’t been to this pub yet – their menu looks very good. All good wishes.
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Thank you so much for adding all your preparatory sketches. Your client is a lucky person- I hope they enjoy this! Would it be presumptuous to ask what your colour palette is for this? Thank you! Sue
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Hello Sue – Happy New Year!
Thank you for asking about the colour palette. Here’s what I used. All the watercolours are Daniel Smith.
For the brickwork – Fired Gold Ochre and Mars Yellow, with some Permanent Yellow Deep. The Fired Gold Ochre granulates slightly, to give a bit of texture. It is my go-to colour for reddish London brickwork. Mars Yellow is a good natural yellow, which is also transparent. The Permanent Yellow Deep is a very powerful colour. It is almost phosphorescent. Best used sparingly. You see it for the lights glimpsed in the restaurant, for example.
The green awning is Sap Green, with some Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber in there to make it a bit darker in places. The tree is the same, and the edges of the window panes.
All the greys are a mix of Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber, with a bit of Lunar Blue to give it texture.
The sky is mostly Lavender, with some Ultramarine Blue. I added a bit of my mixed grey: Ultramarine and Burnt Umber.
The red on the street sign is Transparent Pyrrol Orange.
= 8 colours plus the Orange.
Whites: The words “The Eagle” are done by the “resist” method: writing the words in a special rubber liquid which resists the watercolour. I use “Pebeo” drawing gum. It smells awful! I apply it with a dip pen. It dries to a rubbery finish (and stops smelling). Then I paint over it. When the watercolour is dry I rub off the drawing gum and hey presto! the words emerge. I used the same method for the other white highlights: round the door, for example, and the lamps above the awning.
I used a fine white gel-pen for adding some of the brickwork details.
Ink: the ink sketch is done using “De Atramentis” Document Black ink, which is waterproof when dry and so doesn’t smudge when I paint over it. I apply it with a Lamy Safari fountain pen with a fine nib.
Do let me know if you have any other questions.
All good wishes
Jane
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Happy New Year to you too! Thank you for taking so much trouble to list all of those colours- I had never even heard of ‘lunar blue’! Your work really is inspiring!!
Thanks again,
Sue.
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