Capri

Light pours from the upper left, creating a dramatic interplay between sun-struck cream and white buildings in the foreground and deep shadows in the rocky cliff face on the left. The eye travels first to the bright cream-colored tower structure at center, then sweeps up to the compelling dark-green vegetation clinging to the pale limestone outcrop that dominates the composition. Behind and above, the buildings tier upward into the hillside, their warm terracotta and ochre roofs punctuating the pale facade planes. A pale, subtly variegated sky frames the entire scene without competing.

The darkest passages cluster in the shadowed cliff face (deep greenish-grey), the recessed window and shadow shapes in buildings, and the dark vegetation masses. The brightest lights are the sun-facing building walls and the pale sky. Most of the painting occupies a warm mid-tone zone—the terracotta roofs, ochre earth tones, and tan building shadows—which reads as the 'normal' tone against which the brilliant whites and deep darks sing. Squint and the composition becomes three clear value zones: dark cliff and shadows, light buildings, and atmospheric sky.

• #d4d4d1

  Titanium white with a touch of yellow ochre

  Sun-struck building facades and the brightest architectural surfaces

• #bec0c3

  Titanium white with raw umber and ultramarine blue

  Sky, shadowed areas of lighter buildings, and atmospheric passages

• #a39676

  Yellow ochre, burnt umber, and white

  Mid-tone building walls, roofs, and sun-warmed earth

• #8e7856

  Burnt umber with ultramarine blue and raw sienna

  Deep shadows in building recesses and architectural detail shadows

• #6b7155

  Yellow ochre, ultramarine blue, and raw umber

  Hillside vegetation and the underlying earth tones of the landscape

• #515338

  Ultramarine blue, burnt umber, and viridian

  Darkest shadows in the cliff face, deep vegetation, and shadowed building interiors

Brushstrokes are energetic and visible throughout, with a clear Impressionist confidence in broken color. The sky shows horizontal, directional marks that create movement; the vegetation is handled with rapid, gestural strokes that suggest rather than define foliage masses. Building forms have more defined edges than the soft sky, but even the architecture is constructed from visible, directional brushwork rather than smooth modeling. There's no blending for softness—softness comes from color temperature shifts and value gradation.

1. 01

   Block the composition in value only

   Using a neutral grey-brown thinned on turpentine, lightly map the major shapes: the cliff mass as a large dark triangle on the left, the building cluster as a central block, and indicate the sky area above. Don't worry about color yet; focus on where the darkest cliff, the mid-tone buildings, and the pale sky will sit.

2. 02

   Establish the sky

   Mix your pale blue-grey (white with a hint of ultramarine and raw umber) and paint the entire upper third, allowing the color to be slightly warmer on the horizon line and cooler higher up. Keep it thin so it doesn't dominate later layers. Leave the shapes unpainted where the hill and buildings will sit.

3. 03

   Lay in the hillside and dark cliff

   Block in the rocky outcrop with your darkest greens and greys—use ultramarine, burnt umber, and viridian. Vary the hue across the form so it's not one flat tone. Start indicating the vegetation with rapid green strokes (yellow ochre plus ultramarine) where vegetation clings to the rock, keeping these marks energetic and gestural.

4. 04

   Establish building volumes and warm tones

   Paint the main building forms with your mid-tone warm greys and ochres (yellow ochre, burnt umber, white). Focus on the large cream-colored tower in the center and the ochre-roofed structures behind. Use directional brushwork that follows the planes of the architecture. Don't paint windows or details yet—just establish the lit and shadowed face planes.

5. 05

   Refine value contrast and create depth

   Darken the deep shadows in building recesses, cliff crevices, and the dark shadows cast by overhanging architecture (your darkest burnt umber–ultramarine mix). Brighten the most sun-struck building faces with near-white or cream. These contrasts will push buildings forward and create atmospheric depth. Pay attention to how the shadowed side of the pale tower reads against the shadowed cliff behind it.

6. 06

   Build vegetation and hillside detail

   Layer more gestural green marks across the hill—vary your greens between olive (yellow ochre + ultramarine) and warmer yellow-greens (more ochre) to suggest the complex tangle of plants. Don't cover everything; let the underlying earth tones show through. Add occasional darker green accents in deep shadows.

7. 07

   Suggest architectural detail with restraint

   Add window openings as simple dark rectangular marks; suggest door arches in the tower with warm shadow tones. Paint the terracotta roofs with warm russet-orange (burnt umber and ochre), keeping these marks broad and gestural. Avoid overworking—the impression of architecture matters more than accuracy.

8. 08

   Integrate values and refine transitions

   Step back and assess value relationships across the whole painting. Soften transitions where needed by painting over edges with a light touch; create harder edges where forms separate. The boundary between cliff and sky should be softer; the junction between lit and shadowed buildings should be clearer.

9. 09

   Final accents and atmospheric touch

   Add bright accent touches of pale cream-white to the most luminous building corners and sun-struck edges. Place tiny touches of dark green or nearly-black where shadow details gather (window recesses, cliff crevices). These final marks should feel spontaneous, not labored, and should enhance the sense of light and air.

• Treating the hillside vegetation as a uniform green wash instead of a complex play of varied greens, ochres, and shadow tones that shift across the form
• Over-rendering building details and windows when the painting's power comes from large lit and shadowed planes—details should feel suggested, not precisely drawn
• Losing the luminosity of the white buildings by not creating sufficient value contrast with the surrounding shadows and the cliff face
• Painting the brushwork too smoothly or blending it away—the visible, directional mark-making is essential to the Impressionist energy of the piece

beginner friendliness

value contrast

palette complexity

compositional simplicity

brushwork visibility