After letting the base dry for a few days it was ready for paint. I sealed the cork and created a uniform surface, ready for paint, with a layer of Mr. Color gray thinned with Mr. Thinner for a tough base and let it dry overnight.

Primered and ready for paint. Good relief, but could use more.

Then it was time to start applying color. I decided to try to apply color modulation to help build a sense of foreground / background and to work with the manhole cover and wall to help achieve depth. I started by applying a gradient with the near left corner being almost pure white and fading through gray to almost black at the back right. I felt that this diagonal gradient would help add some interest to the overall composition.

Adding a warm to cool gradient.

Than I picked out different details and areas of differing tonal values where I wanted to call attention to surface and material changes (the curb and crown pavers).

Using value and hard breaksto add visual texture.

Then various washes were used to accentuate the gaps between the pavers. After that I used white oil paints to pick out highlights. I kept the washes at the left front corner warm and transitioned to cooler washes toward the far corner.

Using layers of washes and highlights with oil paints, chromatic richness is built up. Things got a little muddy.

The bricks in the wall were picked out with a rust colored wash.

Next installment – details.