Explore Newcastle’s Iconic Bridges with Printmaker Mike Pinkney

‘I am gradually working my way through the bridges of the Tyne as a series of prints. The first one I tackled was my particular favourite, The High Level Bridge. I love the elegance of it and the fact that it still does what it was designed to do over 170 years ago. It looks fantastic from the Quayside and it also looks amazing when you walk or drive over it.

Designed by Robert Stephenson in 1849 it is rightly considered one of the most iconic industrial monuments in the North East.

As with all of my prints the challenge was what to put in and what to leave out. I tend to start with a photograph, preferably taken in strong sunlight and then sketch it out, deciding how many colours I want to print it in and I then draw each colour layer separately, gradually simplifying things as I go along. The base of the bridge and the reflection in the river were the most challenging elements to draw but I’m happy with the finished result.

I printed a smaller two-colour version in which the overlap areas of the orange and blue form the third darker colour but the print on show here is larger and is printed in three colours to add some more visual punch to the shadows.’

‘I wanted to do a print of the Tyne Bridge from the Quayside and the aspect of the bridge that I have always found the most dramatic is the view around Queen Street with the bridge towering above as it skims the top of the buildings. Having walked around the bottom of the bridge many times I decided that the view from Lombard Street was the one I wanted to draw.

The granite towers that hold up the bridge are such a beautiful feature that I wanted to make them the focus of the print with the famous arches of the bridge almost as a background feature. This presented me the with the slightly unnerving job of making the shadows on the tower the dominant focus of the print. I also needed to show different grades of shadow to highlight some of the key Art Deco features of the tower designed by Robert Burns Dick.

I simplified the arches of the bridge to make it visually legible as a print, and I of course had to feature the famous Kittiwakes that soar above the street and nest on the ledges.

It was a complicated image to print. I did a series of colour tests and in the end used seven colours and the testing and printing alone took me about a week to complete in the printmaking studio.’

‘I’ve always liked the Redheugh Bridge. It seems to float high above you as you walk along the Quayside. Of all the Tyne Bridges it is probably the least noticed and also one of the least notable ones to travel across, but from below it is a very elegant structure.

The clean design and the concrete used in its construction, give it a modernist feel. The tall columns soar nearly 30 metres above the river and support the massive 160 metre central span. This engineering feat wouldn’t have been possible back when many of the other bridges were built and this gives the Redheugh Bridge its unique personality.

I wanted to capture this elegance in the print. I simplified the image right down to the essentials making the far bank and its reflection out of solid blocks and I used a beautiful silver Speedball screenprinting ink on the towers to help give a focus to the design.

The end result is simple and hopefully captures something of the character of this often overlooked bridge.’

View Mike Pinkney’s collection in gallery and online now