Quick Night Sketches

Here are a few quick sketches I did while waiting in the car for my friend. I used my Aquabee 6" x 9" sketchbook, a Uniball Micro pen and Holbein watercolors. I did the sketch on location, and painted them later in the studio.

Philippe's at Night

Here is another version of Philippe's French Dip restaurant, this time at night. I used a historic photo taken by Mr. Tom LaBonge as reference. You can see some additional windows and other architectural details that were originally there.

I started with a quick color study in my sketchbook to familiarize myself with the subject and to practice my night scene technique. I then sketched it onto 140# Fabriano cold press watercolor paper. The window were masked off with liquid mask.

I started the first wash with Gamboge Nova and Raw Sienna surrounding the windows, adding Alizarin Crimson and Ultramarine Deep the further away I got from them. I did quite a few washes, or glazes over the entire sheet, trying to build up the darks while leaving the brights intact.

After I was satisfied with the lighting, I added some reflections in the street and began adding details to clarify the awning, the windows and signage. I painted in the people in bright accent colors, and the cars in a dark grey. I finished it with white paint: graphics on the signage and loose splatters over the whole piece. I signed it with Titanium white using a tiny sable brush.