Broadview Wine Bar – Quiet Observation on Bridge Road

Broadview Wine Bar, Oulton Broad

There is a quiet geometric rhythm to the buildings along Oulton Broad, where domestic architecture meets the edge of the water. With this piece, the intent was to capture the structural lines of the Broadview Wine Bar alongside its neighbouring shopfronts without losing the immediacy of line and wash.

Working in pen and ink first let me map the structural framework—the horizontal emphasis of the upper windows, the signage bands, and the vertical anchor of the streetlight. The challenge in line work on textured paper is keeping the mark deliberate; every ink line remains visible beneath the transparent glazes.

When applying the watercolour, I kept the washes pale and controlled on the main facade to suggest the flat, diffuse daylight typical of coastal East Anglia. The earth tones along the ground line and warm terracotta notes in the roof tiled section provide counterweights to the soft blues across the windows and upper sky. Loose, feathered strokes of green at the margins frame the building, placing it within its green surroundings near the water’s edge.

It is less about depicting every architectural detail and more about recording a familiar local view as it stands in the light of an ordinary afternoon.