This is a painting of a man riding an escalator in the Southwark Underground Station in London, UK. It's based on a photo I took during our visit there in May of 2016.

The Tube is a miraculous way to get around such an intimidatingly enormous city, and it makes everywhere accessible. But one of the unexpected aspects of riding in such an old and complicated system with many different lines is that some can only be accessed by very long journeys up or down on escalators.

The famous refrain "stand right, walk left" has a long history, and attempts to eliminate it for efficiency or safety reasons have not been successful. I consider myself a fast city walker but I often found myself in people's way, going against the mysterious flow and never quite grasping the unspoken etiquette of navigating the busiest parts of London.