Direct Watercolor, Day 4

Day 4 of the Direct Watercolor challenge. 

All of these are based on a photograph I took in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. If you have ever been there, or seen photographs you know that it’s all about vivid color in that city. I wanted to capture that, the characteristic pink city buses, the crowded cobbled streets and the buntings and buildings.
I wanted to capture the scorching heat. I kept my color palette limited and worked in my first shapes (very) wet-in-wet. The trick after that was just to not mess with those first shapes too much.

This is Version 1
I’ll follow up each piece with a small closeup of a bit I liked, and then my thoughts on other bits of it.

I like the energy in the piece and this bit here with the truck.

What didn’t work so well for me was the composition: I would have liked to push the dome further into the distance to create the feel of a deep street.

Version 2

I liked how vibrant the buildings on the left are, and it’s good to have the dome recede in the distance. Adding the white car helped.

But that figure in a black suit by the white car, that one I don’t like.

Version 3
So I did yet another version.

I like this bit.

But I think I miss the energy of the other two pieces and the person in the foreground, facing away, into the scene.

Here are all three pieces, side by side so you can judge for yourself…

Do you have a favorite?

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