Chivay Market Practice – Live Demo

I had a fun time with this practice painting of Chivay Market, a scene bursting with life and colour. For this live demo, I wanted to capture the energy and light you find in busy street markets. The foreground was key, with those warm oranges and yellows popping out against cool shadows made using ultramarine blue and burnt sienna.

Adding some sharp darks with neutral tint and burnt umber really helped bring the stalls and figures forward. I kept the washes loose, letting the colours mix on the page. The figures are just simple shapes, painted quickly, giving movement and a sense of bustle. If you look closely, you can spot how I used a mix of alizarin crimson and cobalt blue for some of the clothing, which gives that little bit of vibrancy.

This is one of my favourite kinds of subject: sunny, lively markets with lots of interesting light. Trying out new mixtures for shadow colours is always a fun challenge, and I think the combination of warm highlights and cool shadows works really well here. If you’d like this painting in your collection, it’s for sale—just contact me for details.