Hong Kong Tram

I like trams. They are colourful, add mouvement to cityscapes and when they stop have many people around.

Hong Kong tram - Oil on panel (6" x 8") by Benoit Philippe

For this painting, I made a precise preliminary drawing because the scene is quite complex. I simplified some elements, by removing people from the scene for example.

I then put on my palette a blob of Ultramarine Blue and one of Yellow Ochre. I proceeded with a value rendering of the scene.

After I established the values, I added to the two colours used to block values some Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red, Crimson Alizarin and Titanium White. I reduced my usual palette on purpose. There is no Cerulean or Manganeze Blue; or any Viridian Green (That I like to mix with Crimson Alizarin to get a deep black).

Looking at the finished painting, it does not seem that any colour is missing. The reduced palette gives the painting more unity.