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Bergerac, France, 15" x 11".
Place Malbec, a small square in Bergerac, south west France. A fairly quick sketch and the main challenge are all those windows and shutters. The decision is either paint the windows in great detail (but then everything else should be also detailed) or go for a looser approach and miss out the odd window or two and make them all look a little bit different. Also I changed the direction the cars were parked in - I have them facing me and not a side on view.
Limoges, France, 22" x 15"
A square in central Limoges and a hob for local transport like the trams. I tried to go quite warm in the foreground on the left - plenty of burnt sienna and alizarin crimson in the initial wash. The parked cars, being in the shadows had some forced bleeding to allow some 'out of focus' effects. Those cars I think had to be balanced in the composition with one or two larger figures on the right. I used quite a bit more white gouache in the final stages than I normally do with the highlights on figures & cars, window details and shop sign. There is a danger you can overdo these last highlights, so you have to go slow and convince yourself certain areas need that touch up.
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