Courtyard of Al-Azhar mosque and university complex in Cairo

Bright, even sunlight floods the courtyard from above, casting sharp shadows beneath the colonnade and creating a gridded pattern of light and shade across the pavement. The eye enters at the foreground figures in their jewel-toned garments (deep blues, teals, russets), then travels up and back through the columned arcade to the far wall with its Gothic and Islamic arched windows. The composition divides clearly into three depth zones: the gathered crowd below, the receding colonnades with their blue-gray supporting pillars, and the cream-colored facade with its geometric window patterns beyond.

The darkest accents are the deep blue-green pillars and the shadows beneath arches; mid-tones dominate the pavement and figures; the lightest lights are the cream and pale yellow walls and illuminated upper surfaces. There's a pronounced value drop where shadows fall directly under the arcade (darkish ochre-gray), while sun-struck pavement reads light tan. Squinting reveals two clear tonal masses: the dark colonnade structure and the bright courtyard floor and far wall.

• #e5d2a8

  Lead white + raw sienna + touch of yellow ochre

  Sunlit courtyard pavement, far wall, upper architectural surfaces

• #c2ac8a

  Raw sienna + lead white + umber

  Mid-tone areas of pavement, shadows on cream walls, figure drapery (tan-browns)

• #7e6850

  Raw umber + ivory black + touch of red ochre

  Darkest archway shadows, figure shadows, architectural recesses

• #83816f

  Ultramarine blue + raw umber + lead white

  The distinctive blue-gray supporting pillars and arcade structure

• #a18666

  Raw sienna + ultramarine + lead white

  Figure garments (mid-tone drapery), architectural mid-tones

• #f1e4b7

  Lead white + pale yellow ochre

  Brightest highlights on sunlit walls and pavement surfaces

Edges shift strategically: the far architectural forms are soft and hazy (wet-into-wet), receding in atmospheric perspective, while the foreground figures and nearby columns have crisper definition with deliberate contours. The pavement is laid with horizontal directional strokes that guide the eye back; the pillars are rendered with vertical hatching and sharp modeling to establish structural presence. Foliage and distant details blur into simplified washes, leaving the viewer's focus on the geometric solidity of the colonnade and the congregated figures.

1. 01

   Establish the value underpainting

   Using a thin wash of raw umber + ultramarine, block in the three major zones: dark shadows under the arcade, mid-tone pavement, and the light far wall. Keep this gestural and structural—focus on where sunlight hits hard versus where shadow pools. Pay special attention to the row of pillar shadows as a dark horizontal band across the courtyard floor.

2. 02

   Render the colonnade structure

   Establish the blue-gray pillars with careful vertical strokes, using the #83816f mix. Build form with light and shadow, making the lit side of each column lighter, the shadow side darker with added umber. Leave the arches between them as voids—don't fill them with color yet. The pillars create the visual scaffolding that anchors everything else.

3. 03

   Block in the architecture beyond

   Paint the far cream-colored wall with broad, soft strokes of #e5d2a8 and #f1e4b7, keeping edges diffuse. Lay in the arched windows with gentle gray-brown shadows (not harsh). This wall should read as a unified, distant plane—resist adding detail; let it recede through softness rather than clarity.

4. 04

   Model the pavement with directional light

   Using horizontal strokes of #e5d2a8 (lit areas) and #c2ac8a (shadow transitions), paint the courtyard floor. Notice how the sun creates a grid: light where unobstructed, shadow directly beneath each arch. Lay the strokes in the direction of depth (receding into the courtyard) to reinforce perspective. The foreground pavement is warmer and slightly darker; it lightens as it recedes.

5. 05

   Position and silhouette the foreground crowd

   Using a mid-tone neutral (mix of #a18666 and #7e6850), loosely place the figures in the immediate foreground—don't render them fully yet. Observe their clothing colors: teals, deep blues, rust-reds, ochres. Paint them as simplified shapes against the pavement, establishing posture and grouping. Let some figures overlap to create depth; the nearest figures should have the most definition.

6. 06

   Refine figure detail and warm/cool color shifts

   Now add the local colors of garments in the foreground—the teal dress, the deep blue robe, the russet and ochre wraps. Keep edges varied: some soft where figures stand in shadow, sharper where they catch direct light. Notice that figures on the sunlit left side of the courtyard read with brighter, warmer tones, while those in the shade (near the arcade) are cooler and more muted. Use glazing to build luminosity in the bright figures.

7. 07

   Strengthen archway recesses and create depth

   Deepen the shadows under the arches with a rich dark made from ultramarine + umber, adding just enough to give the colonnade real volume. These darks should be the deepest notes in the painting. Allow the light pillars to separate from the dark voids behind them—this contrast creates the sense of space tunneling back. Soften the transition between light and shadow on the pavement where it crosses from sun into shade.

8. 08

   Atmospheric perspective and final integration

   Introduce subtle blue-gray glazes over distant figures and the far wall to unify the background and push it back. The mid-distance figures (middle of the courtyard) should read slightly cooler and less saturated than foreground ones. Check the overall value structure: the brightest lights should be on the pavement and far wall, the darkest darks under the arches. Soften any harsh edges between zones; let warm and cool transitions be gradual where space opens up.

• Overworking or hardening the edge of the far wall—it must stay soft and diffuse to recede convincingly; the atmospheric haze is doing the depth work, not detail.
• Making all the foreground figures equally detailed and sharp—vary your edge quality; some should blur into each other, some stand isolated. Avoid the trap of rendering every face or fold equally.
• Painting the pillars as flat vertical lines rather than cylinders with light and shadow—the columnade only reads as structure if each pillar has convincing roundness and the arches cast real shadow.
• Losing the warm-to-cool color shift that happens with distance—distant figures and walls should lean cooler (more gray, more blue undertone) while foreground garments are warmer and more saturated.

beginner friendliness

value contrast

palette complexity

compositional simplicity

brushwork visibility