Strong Shadows and Water Reflections in Livorno

Watercolour paper can feel scary when you want to paint dark shadows next to bright sunlight. I often look at a scene like Via della Venezia Bridge in Livorno and see a great chance to work with big contrast. The warm light hits the old tall buildings on the left, while deep cool shadow covers the underside of the stone bridge.

To get this effect, I started with a light warm wash of yellow ochre for the sunlit walls. When that dried, I used ultramarine blue mixed with burnt sienna to build the heavy dark bridge arches. Notice how the contrast makes the yellow paint look bright and full of warm sunshine.

The water below needs a light touch to show movement and reflection. I painted a soft wash of viridian green and cerulean blue for the main canal water. While the paper was still damp, I dragged dark paint across the surface with dry brush strokes to create ripples and reflections under the small boats.

Painting white boats on dark water is all about negative painting. Instead of using lots of white paint, I painted the dark shadow of the bridge right around the boat shapes. This makes the light paper stand out as the top of the boats naturally.

I added tiny hints of white paint at the end for light catching the ropes and the boat edges. A few small dark brush marks on the bridge give us simple figures walking across the road, which adds scale to the whole painting.