Afternoon Sunlight On The Mercantile Watercolor Painting

My Urban Sketchers Workshop met for the second time and the weather was 10 degrees cooler than last Sunday. The sunlight was beautiful again and this painting shows the afternoon light on this wonderful old victorian building. It reminded me of one of my favorite quotes “Don’t just paint the subject, paint the sunlight on the subject.” I liked the way the dark leaves at the top and the shadows on the sidewalk really helped frame the doorway and the awning. I love to include color in the shadow shapes and here I added some violet to the blue shadows on the sidewalk and warm earth tones in the shadows cast by the building. The workshop is going well and not only is everyone’s work improving, I am impressed with the questions they are asking. When we break for lunch we talk about painting and I always come away with a head full of new ideas. I can hardly wait until next Sunday when we go downtown and paint a cityscape.