Strolling the Back Streets of Nice

Watercolor Painting by Dennis Pendleton. I was on a painting trip to Nice France when I discovered the charming narrow streets in Old Town. This area is full of shops, restaurants, outdoor cafe's, no vehicles, and the colors are exciting for an artist. I wanted to capture the sunlight streaming between the buildings and how it lit up different parts of the street. Reflected light was everywhere bouncing off the pedestrians and shops and along with cast shadows the subject was ready to be painted.

Leaving unpainted white paper for the clothing, see the waiters shirt, canopies, and light struck areas of the street was essential and that requires planning ahead because typically watercolorists don't use white paint. You can use opaque white to recharge areas that got covered with paint but it is never as handsome as the plain white paper. Notice how the white figures are placed against rich darks because light values next to dark values creates an "effect" that commands attention and leads the viewers eye around the painting.

Lately I have been more interested in scenes like this that include people because they add scale and life to compositions. I typically leave out facial features because they are unnecessary details and because I am not trying to identify anyone in particular. As you can see, all the figures have a specific gesture and this adds movement and rhythm. I also left out lettering on the signs and indicated the windows with single strokes of paint. It is not necessary to travel to Europe to find interesting subject matter and I am currently on the hunt for interesting cafe's, farmers markets, and other places where people gather on nice days here in Denver.

For the buildings I mixed yellow ochre, cobalt violet, and cadmium red and the shutters are olive green and cerulean blue. The shadows on the different whites are cerulean blue, cobalt violet and rose dore. The darkest shapes are combinations of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna and and the street is cerulean blue and scarlet vermillion. If you ever find yourself in Nice be sure and stroll along the charming narrow streets of Old Town. Happy Painting! Dennis Pendleton