An Afternoon Pint, Kehoes Pub, Dublin – 573

I took the reference photographs for this acrylic painting inside Kehoes on South Anne Street during a quiet midweek evening. Most of the figures were there just as I painted them, but I added the man reading the paper. I felt I couldn’t leave that end of the counter empty!

I changed the light to afternoon because I liked the idea of the cool daylight spilling across the shiny, worn wooden floor. The lines through the interior draw the eye towards the front of the pub and back again, while the lights remain on to illuminate the nearer part of the bar.

The ceiling has the smoke-stained yellow of decades of tobacco smoke, another detail that contributes to the character of the room. I wanted to capture the pub in one of its quieter moments, with time for a pint, the paper and a little peace.

Browse more of my Dublin pub paintings and prints.

For more about the venue itself, visit the Kehoes Pub website.