Arcades, Eymet, France

The lovely old arcades in Eymet, which is a charming town in the Dordogne region of France. I have always loved how the light hits these ancient stone structures. It creates such wonderful shapes and shadows for a watercolor artist. In this painting, I really wanted to show the contrast between the dark, cool shadows under the arches and the bright, warm sunlight hitting the ground outside. It is a great spot to sit and watch the world go by while you work.

The stone walls of the arcades have so many different tones in them. I used a lot of yellow ochre and burnt sienna to get that warm, sandy look of the old French masonry. For the deep shadows on the ground and under the roof, I mixed ultramarine blue with a bit of neutral tint. This helps to create a very strong dark area which makes the sunny parts look even brighter. I also added a tiny bit of lavender in the lighter shadow areas to keep the colors looking fresh and interesting.

I decided to include a figure and a car in the distance to give the scene some life and a sense of scale. The figure is just a simple dark shape, but it helps the eye move through the painting towards the light at the end of the tunnel. I used a little bit of viridian green for the trees in the background to show a hint of the nature outside the town square. It is all about keeping things simple and not worrying too much about every tiny detail of the buildings.