3 Blend the key shapes
I paint the less-defined areas with my size
10 sable brush. For the distant buildings to
the right of the clock tower, I used a varied
mix of French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna and
Quinacridone Magenta. I allowed a hard edge
against the sky but softened the edge at the
bottom of this area. In the early stages of a
painting, I like to allow different areas to
blend into one another to some extent. The
trees were painted with French Ultramarine,
Burnt Sienna and Quinacridone Gold.
4 Keep the light
I continued across to paint the buildings,
varying the colours and leaving some of the
original wash untouched. Remember that the
white space is your ‘light’: extra paint can
always be added, but it can’t easily be taken
away. I continued this wash down and across
the street. Remember that the edges of the
cast shadows should also follow the single-
point perspective to the vanishing point.5 Pick choice details
Using a greyish mix of French Ultramarine,
Burnt Sienna and Quinacridone Magenta,
I added the beginning of some detail to the
clock tower. Avoid painting too much at this
stage – just enough to partially separate the
main parts. Notice how I still allowed some
edges to soften.6 Establish rough figures
Adding figures can so easily dominate a painting. I avoided this by focusing on linking
everything together rather than defining individual forms. To achieve this, I painted ‘wet in wet’
so each wash softly blended with the next. I used the brighter yellows and reds in my palette
to suggest the vibrant saris. Notice also how the tuk-tuk blended into the two merged figures.
This produces one big interesting shape instead of many small shapes, something to be
encouraged. I deliberately left parts of the tuk-tuk untouched to suggest the glancing sunlight.
7 Simplify the masses
I added more definition to the scooter and
rider but tried not to overdo things. The soft
blends allowed me to see the scooter and
rider as a reasonably simple mass, blending
it with the background with just enough
detail to make it identifiable.
Too many hard edges command too
much attention. So how many is too many?
That’s where personal opinion comes in –
remember, when you are painting, the only
opinion that matters is yours.