Painting the Light and Shadows in Colerne Market Place

I love finding scenes that have strong shapes and good lighting. This painting is of the Market Place in a village called Colerne in Wiltshire. It is a lovely old place with plenty of history. The church tower stands very tall in the background. I liked how the tower looked against the bright sky. It makes for a very strong composition.

For the sky, I wanted to keep it fresh and loose. I used some Cobalt Blue to get that nice summer sky feeling. I did not want hard edges in the sky area. The buildings here are made of beautiful old stone. To get that warm stone colour, I used a mix of Yellow Ochre and a little bit of Light Red. This combination really captures the feeling of the warm sunlight hitting the walls.

Shadows are always very important in my watercolours. You can see strong shadows stretching across the road in the foreground. This helps to show the direction of the sun. I mixed Ultramarine Blue with Burnt Sienna to get a nice dark tone for these shadow areas. I also added a few figures walking a dog. These figures help to bring life to the scene and connect the shapes together.

On the left side, there is a car parked by the railings. I did not paint every single detail of the car. I just suggested the shape of it. To finish the painting, I used a little bit of white paint. I used this for the highlights on the car windshield and for the yellow lines on the road. It adds a nice bit of sparkle to the final picture.

Do you like this painting? It is currently for sale. Please contact me if you would like to buy it or want more information. Also, please visit my website at www.timwilmotartist.com to see more of my work. If you want to learn how to paint loose watercolours like this, come and join my painting club. Visit patreon.com/timwilmot to join my community. Check it out for a free trial!