Meldrum movers at night neon sign

Painting lights at night requires some tricks with the value contrast. The location painting had a much paler sky, which was accurate, but the colours did not pop out the way they did in real life. So I put a second layer on at home, using a dark blue just to see how dark it had to be to get the pop. It was a lot darker than I thought, but next time I will try it on location if the occasion comes up to paint neon signs again. This scene is just at the end of Walkley, at the corner of Sherbrooke. I painted the Meldrum building scene just a day or two before the pandemic lockdown which seems like a long time ago now.

Meldrum movers neon sign, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, October 2024