Cropped detail of the Old Nice facades and bell tower watercolour

Vieux Nice (opus 1)

I spent a dozen hours or so, spread over three days, on a painting I did for a friend who loves city scenes that capture the ‘local taste’, the rhythms of balconies, and the way buildings in some Riviera towns cascade into each other.

I chose a view of the Old Nice, near the Cours Saleya, that featured colourful façades, a bell tower, tree tops and the iconic blue window blinds.

2B pencil sketch:
Pencil sketch on a large square watercolour sheet on a table in front of my iphone showing the reference photo

Then I did the outline using a 0.05 mm black Uni-ball Pin pen, and delimited the space with masking tape (glittery black was all I had –classy!):
Thin outline in black ink and tape at the top and bottom

Painting with shades of yellow, ochre, blue:
Watercolour nearly finished with the facades painted yellow and ochre, the window blinds painted blue, the bell tower painted with rainbow colours

Once the red and green are in, this is done. Here is the resulting 30×20 cm watercolor:
Finished watercolour, tape removed, signature and date added in white at the bottom right

Framed and ready to ship! (30×40 cm)
Finished watercolour framed in white wood

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