The Apse of Notre Dame

Light strikes from the upper left, warming the cathedral's stone facade and the foreground sandy bank to near-yellow while leaving the river and far shore in cooler shadow. Your eye lands first on Notre-Dame's twin towers in the middle distance—the brightest, most detailed architectural element—then travels down the illuminated embankment dotted with dark cypress trees, and finally settles on the moored boat with its pale hull reflecting the same directional light. The composition is anchored by a strong diagonal from lower left (foreground rocks and vegetation) rising toward the cathedral, creating depth without perspective lines.

The darkest darks are concentrated in three zones: the river water (deep blue-black), the shadows cast by cypress trees on the sand, and the shadowed building masses on the right shore. Mid-tones dominate—the tan stone of the cathedral, the ochre-brown embankment, weathered boat wood. The lightest lights are the sun-struck cathedral walls, the pale sand slopes, and the cream-colored hull catching direct light. Squint and you see four distinct value bands: dark water, medium-dark tree silhouettes, bright sand/stone, and pale sky.

• #fac85b

  Cadmium Yellow Medium + Raw Sienna + touch of white

  Foreground sandy embankment, cathedral walls in direct light, highlights on the boat hull

• #9e816d

  Burnt Sienna + Ultramarine + white

  Middle-tone shadows on buildings, sandy banks in half-light, cypress tree trunks

• #754228

  Burnt Umber + Alizarin + touch of Ultramarine

  Deep shadows within foreground rock masses, darkened tree foliage, building recesses

• #2a211f

  Ultramarine + Burnt Umber + Alizarin (near black, never pure black)

  River water, darkest tree silhouettes, deepest architectural shadows

• #b6a590

  Raw Sienna + white + touch of Ultramarine

  Light stone and mortar, sandy midtones, weathered boat wood, pale sky reflections

Marquet uses loose, directional strokes that follow the architecture's planes—vertical marks for the cathedral towers, horizontal sweeps across water and sand. Edges are soft throughout; the transition from lit sand to shadowed trees is blurred with overlapping warm and cool strokes rather than drawn. The river is handled with horizontal, deliberate marks that read as movement, while foreground foliage is built with stubby, clustered dabs that suggest density without botanical detail.

1. 01

   Establish the light direction and value key

   Block in the entire composition using your darkest mix (Ultramarine + Burnt Umber) for the river and deep shadows, your mid-brown (Burnt Sienna + white) for the embankment, and your palest yellow-cream for the cathedral and lit sand. Don't worry about detail—this is a three-value underpainting. Pay attention to how the light source from upper left creates a bright diagonal across the foreground.

2. 02

   Paint the sky and establish the horizon

   Block in the sky with a mix of Ultramarine, Raw Sienna, and plenty of white, warmer near the horizon where it catches reflected light. The sky is actually warmer and less blue than you might expect. Keep it simple—no clouds, just a soft gradient from cooler blue-violet above to peachy-tan at the horizon where it meets the cathedral silhouette.

3. 03

   Define the river's dark mass

   Darken the river water with horizontal strokes of Ultramarine + Burnt Umber + a touch of Alizarin. Keep these marks deliberate and parallel to the water's edge—they should feel like movement, not confusion. Leave a thin line of lighter water where it reflects the pale boat hull and sky.

4. 04

   Block in the cathedral's major planes

   Paint the twin towers and central mass of Notre-Dame with your warm yellow-tan (Cadmium Yellow + Raw Sienna + white). The left tower faces the light directly and should be your brightest warm tone. The right side of the cathedral retreats into cooler shadow—use your tan-gray mix here. Keep the forms simple and blocky; Marquet simplifies the Gothic detail into clean geometric shapes.

5. 05

   Paint the foreground embankment with directional strokes

   Build the sandy slope with overlapping, diagonal strokes following the land's tilt. Use your bright yellow-tan for sun-facing areas, and drop in your mid-brown and ochre for shadowed slopes. The strokes should follow the topography—sweeping downward from upper left toward the water. Don't make it smooth; let the brushwork show the texture of disturbed earth.

6. 06

   Plant the cypress trees with dark, vertical accents

   Using your dark brown-black mix (Burnt Sienna + Ultramarine), place clusters of small vertical strokes for the cypress trees scattered across the lit sand. These should be quick, impressionistic marks—a few dark dabs suggesting a tree rather than a botanical portrait. The shadows they cast should be slightly lighter and warmer (Burnt Sienna + touch of Ultramarine) to feel like cast shadow rather than tree substance.

7. 07

   Paint the boat with attention to light and reflection

   Block in the moored boat's hull with your cream-tan, catching the reflected light from the upper left. The shadowed side of the hull should be warm-brown (Raw Sienna + touch of Ultramarine), not cool. The boat is one of your focal points after the cathedral, so make its form read clearly—a simple elongated shape with a defined shadow side and lit side. Add a touch of green-gray where barnacles or weathering show.

8. 08

   Add finishing details and soften transitions

   Refine the cathedral's windows and buttresses with small, dark marks—just enough to suggest structure without overworking. Soften the edges where foreground meets river by dragging warm and cool strokes over the boundary. Step back frequently; the painting should read as a unified light study, not a collection of separate elements. Add any final highlights to the brightest parts of the sand and cathedral walls using nearly pure white mixed with a whisper of Cadmium Yellow.

• Overworking the cathedral's architectural detail—Marquet simplifies ruthlessly into broad planes. Resist the urge to draw every window; a few dark marks suffice.
• Making the foreground embankment too uniform in color. The sand has multiple overlapping strokes in different ochres, tans, and browns that create visual texture. Batch your strokes to follow the slope's angle.
• Painting the river too brightly or too cold. It is dark and shadowed, but warmed slightly by reflected light from the buildings. If it feels purple or dead, warm it with a touch of Burnt Sienna.
• Placing cypress trees with botanical precision rather than impressionistic suggestion. These should be quick, dark vertical clusters—not individual trees. The eye completes them; you don't have to.
• Losing the directional light source. Every shadow and highlight must consistently respect upper-left illumination. If your cathedral left face isn't markedly brighter than your right face, your light direction has drifted.

beginner friendliness

value contrast

palette complexity

compositional simplicity

brushwork visibility