Paris Rooftops -- Work in Progress

Work in progress, acrylic on canvas

I started work on this painting a couple days ago. It's based on a photo I took from a hotel room in Paris in 1987. I usually paint landscapes without man-made structures so this one is a big stretch for me. I am used to getting a painting done in just a few hours. After the first night of working on this one I was pretty discouraged. With nothing but big masses of color on canvas, it was hard for me to visualize the finished product. It seemed like a pretty daunting task to complete it.

Last night I focused more on the tile roofs in the structures in the mid-ground. I finished the night's work by adding the sky-lights to the three story building, and suddenly I began to see some promise and began to have some hope. Today I spent most of my time adding details to the three story building on the right. It needs more work, but I'm really happy with it. I can't wait until I finish the background buildings so I will be able to add the cute little clay pot chimneys to top off this building.

The large building in the middle background is going to be a lot of work -- lots of windows, including dormers on the top floor, and lots of odd angles. This is going to take a few more days, but I'm hopeful that the finished product will be worth the effort.  Regardless of the outcome, I am learning a lot.