Old downtown San Luis Potosí city, México. Part 3. Teatro de la Paz in Plaza del Carmen

Pen&Ink and watercolor on HP Arches 10” x7”

Plaza del Carmen is another beautiful square in old downtown San Luis Potosí. In my opinion it’s the most beautiful square in the whole city. It’s surrounded by architectural wonders. The theater, 2 museums, a temple of the same name, statues and a beautiful fountain in the center of the square. I wish I could finish all the buildings mentioned above, the only one I could finish in ink on the second half of the day was the Teatro de La Paz, I added watercolor later. Instead of my usual purple color for shaded areas made of a mix of French Ultramarine and Alizarin Crimson, I tried a combination of two paints for a change and that I liked a lot, I wanted to tame carbazole violet with quinacridone gold and it turned into a muted color, which can easily be turned into brown or purple hues. The paper I used in my homemade sketchbook turned out to be HP Arches paper (I mixed several makers randomly). The paper absorbs the wash faster than HP Stonehenge Aqua, but the sizing on Arches allows me to blend colors and to create graded washes easily. I’m really enjoying HP Arches paper. It makes painting a joy.