Painting the Busy Streets of Istanbul in Watercolour

Istanbul is a city of high energy and big shapes. In this painting of the Sultanahmet district, I wanted to capture the busy feeling of the street. The tall minaret stands quiet against the bright sky while people move about below. It is a fantastic place to paint because there is so much life and light to see.

Many artists ask me how to paint a sky that looks so hot and clear. I used a wash of Cerulean Blue at the top and let it get much lighter as it went down towards the buildings. For the shadows on the ground, I mixed Ultramarine Blue with a little bit of Neutral Tint. This makes a nice cool shadow that helps the sunlight look even stronger on the pavement. The red shop covers were painted with Cadmium Red to add a bright pop of colour to the middle of the picture.

I kept the people very simple in this scene. I just used a few quick brush strokes to show their movement. You do not need to paint every face or every button to tell a story. The dark shapes at the bottom of the paper help to lead your eye up into the painting. I used some Burnt Sienna for the roofs to give a warm feel against the cool blues of the sky. If you would like to buy this original painting, please do contact me for more information.

Painting scenes like this is all about capturing a single moment in time. I hope you enjoy looking at this busy Turkish street scene. Please take a look at the rest of my website at www.timwilmotartist.com to see more of my work. You can also come and be part of my painting community at patreon/timwilmot. There is a free trial waiting for you there so you can see my latest demo videos and tips.