July 14th at Havre

Strong backlighting from the upper left washes the street in cool shadow while the sky glows nearly white, creating atmospheric depth. The eye reads the receding street first—a dark diagonal corridor lined with warm-toned building facades on both sides—then settles on the brilliant French flag at center, which anchors the celebration. Silhouetted figures crowd the street at varied depths, and a statue (left middle ground) and lamp post punctuate the scene, guiding movement toward the flag's vertical thrust.

The painting splits into three value zones: a nearly white, luminous sky; mid-to-warm building faces (ranging from pale cream to ochre); and deep shadow below. The darkest darks appear in building windows, street shadows, and figure silhouettes, while the lightest lights concentrate in the upper sky and flag's white stripe. Squint and you see a dominant light-mid-dark layering with the flag providing a crucial spark of focused brightness.

• #deeded

  Titanium white with trace lemon yellow

  Sky and upper background, flag's white stripe

• #96a49a

  Ultramarine blue + ochre + white

  Building facades and mid-tone architecture, muted green in flag

• #68615b

  Burnt sienna + ultramarine + white

  Warm shadows on building faces and lower street

• #82322b

  Alizarin crimson + ultramarine

  Deep shadows in windows and street, flag's red

• #17192c

  Ultramarine blue + ivory black

  Darkest accents—window panes, silhouettes, deep shadow edges

• #303240

  Ultramarine + burnt umber + white

  Charcoal mid-tones in street and architectural shadow

Strokes are loose, visible, and often directional—the sky swirls with diagonal marks, buildings are suggested with blocky, deliberate placement rather than refinement, and figures are minimal silhouette forms with almost no interior detail. Edges are soft throughout, especially where shadow meets light, creating atmosphere rather than sharp definition. The flag is handled boldly with confident color placement, no tentative layering.

1. 01

   Composition & Underpainting

   Sketch the street's receding angle and the flag's vertical placement with thinned burnt sienna. Establish the building line on both sides converging toward the back. This one-point perspective is gentle but essential—if the street angle is wrong, the entire spatial reading collapses. Wipe back to pale tone, leaving only faint guides.

2. 02

   Sky & Atmospheric Light

   Block in the upper two-thirds with near-white (titanium white + touch of lemon yellow). Use loose horizontal strokes and let the canvas show through slightly. The sky should feel luminous and active, not flat—this backlighting is what makes the scene feel sun-drenched and celebratory.

3. 03

   Building Masses & Architecture

   Paint the building facades with warm mid-tones: ochre, yellow-ochre, and pale ochre-gray. The right building is warmer and lighter; the left building recedes slightly cooler and darker. Block shapes boldly; don't render detail yet. Leave the street area empty for now.

4. 04

   Shadow Structure on Buildings

   Drop in cooler, darker shadows on the building faces using ultramarine + burnt sienna mixes. Shadows appear under cornices, in window recesses, and along vertical wall planes. Observe how shadows shift from warm (lower left) to cool (upper right)—this modeling gives the buildings volume and suggests the light direction. Don't blend; let edges be broken and visible.

5. 05

   The Flag & Focal Point

   Paint the French tri-color flag with confidence: white stripe (left), red-orange (center-bottom), muted blue-green (upper). The flag sits on a dark pole and anchor point—outline these in darkest blue-black. The flag's bright geometry and color isolation make it read as the celebration's visual anchor. Keep edges crisp here, unlike the soft architecture around it.

6. 06

   Street, Shadows & Ground Plane

   Fill the street with cool dark shadow—a mix of ultramarine, burnt sienna, and white. Make the upper street (closest to viewer) slightly lighter than the receding distance, reinforcing perspective. Add dark shadows cast by the flag's pole and architecture. The street should feel spatial and shadowed, not flat.

7. 07

   Figures & Street Life

   Place silhouetted figures as simple dark shapes—a few tall ones (left side, scattered middle ground), clusters of white-dressed figures (right side, lower foreground). Add the statue (left, upper area) as a dark vertical accent. Figures are suggestions of human presence, not portraits; keep them economical with quick, gestural strokes.

8. 08

   Windows, Details & Atmosphere

   Add window rectangles (dark blue-black on building faces) and subtle warm accents (small yellow-white openings suggesting interior light or gas lamps on the street). These punctuate the scene without overwhelming it. Add final directional brushwork in the sky using loose strokes that echo the movement of flags and air.

9. 09

   Final Adjustments & Luminosity

   Step back and check overall value range: ensure sky stays luminous (not muddied), shadows remain distinct from mid-tones, and the flag reads as the focal spark. Add any final touches—a warm accent on a street lamp, a cooler shadow edge to push depth. The painting should feel sun-lit and festive, not heavy or overworked.

• Overworking the flag's color and edges—keep it bold and simple; the surrounding restraint makes it pop. Resist detail.
• Flattening the street perspective by making the receding angle too shallow or inconsistent; test the angle repeatedly against the building line convergence.
• Over-rendering figures as miniature portraits instead of silhouettes and simplified shapes; this destroys the gestural, celebratory feel.
• Muddying the muted building tones with too many color adjustments; mix colors deliberately (ochre + ultramarine + white for cool facade tones) and commit to them.
• Losing the luminous quality of the sky by overblending or adding too much tone variation; keep the upper sky nearly white and reserve dark variation for the lower half.

beginner friendliness

value contrast

palette complexity

compositional simplicity

brushwork visibility