I’m planning a painting of a small hotel near to where I work called the Rookery. As Janet has instructed in previous posts I thought it was best to pre-plan the piece. Looking at composition, tone, colour and detail I’ve worked up some ideas in my sketchbook.

Here is the first page.

With the first sketches I wanted to make a decision on composition and format.

I also worked on colour and tone with the portrait shape.

I knew the shop lettering would be tricky so I sketched a detail of this part of the picture.

In the end I preferred the landscape shape, making the most of the alleyway, so I drew a more detailed sketch.

Next is the scary bit – laying in the washes ….. I’ll tell you how I get on….

Well here it is. The washes have been laid and the sketch is finished. It was tricky to get the brickwork without painting every brick. I ended up using three colors and blending them as I worked, with an undercoat of yellow ochre.

Next, another go using proper watercolour paper, a larger size and a week to work on it. At the moment I need a break from the subject but I plan to return. When I do I will add to this blog.