Tiny Painting Demo: Urban Abstraction

To make the shape of the negative space in the 'sky' area above the buildings stand out more strongly, I painted it a light tone. I created this by mixing in a little white with the leftovers on my palette of colors I've used for the buildings. Doing this means there's an overall unity to the colors across the composition.

In the photo the light tone still looks painted around the buildings, whereas it needs to look as if it's behind them. Achieving this is a question of working right up to the buildings and not worrying if I go over them accidentally because I can always repaint them.

I smeared the paint with the tip of a cloth, then went over the area again with a knife and some extra paint, working right up to the buildings. I also created some texture in it and touched a little of the color elsewhere in the composition, so the 'sky' wouldn't feel so distinct from the 'buildings'. I then had another round at the buildings themselves, adding some additional color and suggestion of architectural elements, as you can see in the next photo.

• What Makes it a Miniature Painting?
• How to Start a Miniature Painting
• Blocking in the Main Shapes
• Adding More Color to the Skyscrapers
• Adding Some 'Sky' Color
• The Final Miniature Painting