Oxford Building in Watercolour

I really enjoy painting buildings, especially historic ones. I was browsing Pinterest this evening and looking specifically for photographs taken in cities of England, like Bath, York and Oxford etc. I came across Hertford College in Oxford and the Jackson Staircase that leads into the hall.

Firstly, I drew the building with pen and then mixed some very simple washes. I didn’t want to put too much colour into the drawing because I liked it as it was and I knew too much paint would probably detract from the drawing itself.

Once the pen was dry, I mixed yellow ochre and a little raw umber for the stonework, then added a tiny amount of ultramarine blue for some shadows. I then made a wash of raw umber and ultramarine blue to make a black for the door and steps coming down and used the ultramarine once again to add a touch of blue to the windows and the sky with more water added. Lastly, I mixed yellow ochre, lemon yellow and cobalt blue for the small amount of green around the right windows. I like the simplicity of using a small range of colours and mixing the ones you need from these.