Today’s watercolor experiment:

As I recall, Bar X was on 23rd Street in Manhattan, just blocks from where I worked. Its storefront was covered with writing, announcing the Christmas Season deals, Happy Hours and specials.

I painted the watercolor below from my reference photo, which I took with the aid of a tripod. The greenish tint is an artifact of the fluorescent lighting. I tried to capture the colors of the other lights from behind the glass doors.

Backlit Graffiti at Bar X
4″x6″ 140# Mixed Media Paper

I could have darkened the outside walls more to accentuate the light glowing from inside the bar.  I used a dip pen for the red text and a combination of fine tip permanent ink pen and dip pen for the black writing.

It was difficult to capture with watercolors, the sense of disorder I captured in the photograph below:

Graffiti at Bar X: Reference Photo

The photo conveys warmth and off-putting coolness at the same time. I’m not sure I would book a Christmas party at the Bar X, but might have gone to one if I were invited.