Apartments, São Paulo Brazil

Gone are the trees, replaced with the concrete elephants that have a hundred eyes and ears, hungry to eat everything around them. This is a scene just down the street where Cilei's parents and brothers live. I sat on the corner under a tree making this painting on a very hot day, some locals came by and they though that I was also a local person who knew Portuguese. I had to finish this one quick due to the heat. In the front you see the Brazilian flag on a building, in the middle there is a soccer field and some tennis courts.

When you are trying to finish a painting quickly the timing is crucial, I started with the sky in the background knowing it would need more time to dry so that the buildings would not bleed into it. Then the foreground washes, let them dry, first layer for the buildings, let it dry. By then it all looked thin, so second layer on everything the heat is drying the paint real fast. Last is the greens and the filler in the middle and details like bricks and light stands and highlights. Over all a painting like this can be finished in about 35 minutes.

6 x 8 " (15 x 20 cm) cold press, watercolour, 2015