Watercolour painting commission - Café, Montbron

The proprietor of this café in the Charente region of France commissioned me to paint this view of his bistrot 'A Tous Les Goûts'.
He supplied me with a photograph of the building from this angle and I added the customers.  I also took the liberty of adding a lot of sunshine which entailed inventing the shadows.  Hopefully I got all the angles for the shadows about right.

Painting people in watercolour

I have been concentrating recently on paintings which include human figures - much more difficult than buildings!  I've done several portraits of individuals and some work with studies of single people incorporated but want to create more with crowds and groups of people.  I made this painting after a photograph which I have had for ages but never felt ready to do anything with. I was happy with the result and the painting was featured on the home page of Red Bubble which may not mean much to most but is an indication that at least somebody else liked it!

Sunny Café Terrace

On the strength of this and other paintings with people which are exhibited on our stand at the fairs and markets I have just received a commission to paint a local café. The photograph which I will be working from has an empty terrace so I will have to add the customers and will probably use this painting as a reference for some of the figures.

Currently working on a painting of some men playing boules which is also becoming a favourite subject! Must get back to that now.  The last brushstrokes will be dry and I can carry on.

Original paintings or prints?

I am looking into the possibilities of selling limited edition prints of some of our original paintings.  As well as being able to get additional mileage out of one of our works, the reduced cost would enable an enthusiast to better afford to own one of our paintings.

Many artists offer this service and I know of some who find that this is a more lucrative market for them.  There are those who will sell prints which they have created from their own home printer, which are not bad in terms of reproduction quality, but are not really good enough to last. I will be using a professional service with Fine Art Guild standard inks and paper to provide a quality print that will be much more durable.

I'm thinking of starting with a painting of a local café which I have painted several times and of which I have sold all the originals. I recently sold the painting below and had considered that one, but have now decided to create a new painting and use that.

Original watercolour painting - Chez Maurice, Montbron, France