Verticals coming to light
Since it is still Summer and I want to paint the hot light of the afternoon, I found this reference photo in my album, taken some years back while visiting the Alhambra in Spain.
This is a view of the Peinador de la Reina Alhambra seen from the Southern wall.
When I took the photo, it was just before noon in August, so the light hit the walls plainly from the South. I like the architecture a lot, as it is a true representation of the massive citadel that was the last Moorish stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula.
The courtyard there is also impressive, but given its orientation facing Eastward, it could not produce those gorgeous shades and extraordinary sensation of glowing light as this external facade of the building.
So, after sketching the architecture in the perspective presented in the photo reference (with minimal adjustments), I did a few value studies to understand how best to paint an inspired composition.
Next is my final value study with some notes.
I painted the composition on a quarter sheet of cold-press Arches paper, 140 lb, using a limited palette of Daniel Smith paints. The painting process can be seen in the short video below.