Original Dublin street scene, watercolour, by

I have always thought Pearse Station was an impressive old building. Apparently it was opened in 1834. This is a watercolour I did from a pic I took a couple of weeks ago. I started with a loose but detailed sketch and then painted it up fairly quickly.

Over the summer I might try doing something like this ‘plain air’ which has it’s advantages and drawbacks, you get more accurate colours, learn to paint faster due to rapid light changes but in the case of a street view like this one, the subject matter, at least in the form of cars and people, comes and goes fairly rapidly.

Painting from a photograph at home is a bit more relaxed and you still get practice in drawing, observation and painting. The idea that a real artist wouldn’t do this is, to me, an unnecessary limitation.