Watercolor Studies

Two of my best quick watercolor studies

(from a photo and from life)

Hill town Observatory

For some reasons I love hill towns and observatories, so here it is. I started with a pencil sketch and made some changes to the design as I started to block in the colors.

I tried to keep the palette limited and have the accent on the cable car. I wanted the painting to look like one of those old postcards.
I got inspired along the way by one of Ian McQue's ink sketches and one of Ralph McQuarries' illustrations (check Pinterest for his work). Maybe it's not the best composition or color scheme for it but I loved working on it.