You may not believe this but Lasalle has a tourist attraction. They even built a little parking lot nearby, and a gazebo with benches lined up where they must give talks or something. I set up under the gazebo and luckily the last of the sun was coming across my left shoulder. The shape of the structure is that of a cone, with a dome on top, and a semi-cricle protrusion that houses the wheel at the top. I suppose it was hooked up to the wind, and the big wheel could be used to drive a grinding device. To paint the scene I sketched out the structure and its windows and door using paint, then established the left highlight and shadow of the main structure. The rest of the painting was done in successive layers, finishing it with the textural elements and details like the old stone wall underneath the balcony. The foliage in the foreground was important for the composition, it gave the windmill a bit of environment, and I squeezed in a bit of the river on the left. There were a lot more trees in the scene but I edited them out to not distract from the obvious star of the painting.
Windmill in Lasalle, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, November 2023 (No. 3633)
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