Painting with SCPAPA in Orange

A classic location for painting.  There were only a couple of painters to show up.  I wasn't sure where they ended up but I couldn't move.

I decided to do a mixed media piece.  The complexity of the subject made me feel like I needed to approach the composition slowly.

I built the painting with dark grays to enhance the vibrancy of the pastels.  The watercolors allowed me to build the shapes in such a way that it was easier to correct mistakes before fully committing to the composition.

I developed the watercolor as fully as possible.  I worked to get all the perspective and the sizes of the objects in the right proportion to each other.

I saved the fountain for last.  This was going to be the toughest part of the painting.  The details of the tile, the elliptical shape of the base, and the water falling into the pool were going to demand the most attention.

I worked the painting from the back to the front so that I did not have to to back over an area after I finished it.

The challenge is knowing what to not work with pastel.  Leaving the underpainting as the shadowed contrast requires restraint.  There is no going back once you have covered the underpainting.

The tile was a quick improvisation that I could not plan.  I just had to commit to it and execute.

The finished painting measures 24"X24" more or less.

The value shot.

The detail shot.