a mediaeval house in Blois, in the Loire Valley

This is my latest watercolour.  In this post I have represented the three stages of its completion.  The subject is one of the oldest mansions in the city of Blois, in the Loire valley, France. The mansion is situated at the top of a hill opposite the cathedral overlooking the Loire river.  It was erected in the late middle ages and its style is the French equivalent of Tudor architecture.  The name of the street is Pierre de Blois, (literally the Blois Stone), because a large stone must have been there in the middle of the road, forcing passers-by to circumvent the obstacle, but the stone must have been withdrawn since then.  Stage one shows the first layer of watercolour, and as this is a rather classical picture this time, I started with pale colours moving into dark ones. At the time when the picture was taken, I had already added a few of  the timbers of the house.

Stage two is actually about the second layer of watercolour on the house and its surroundings.  Still, some areas have been left blank intentionally at that stage, such as the area behind the window.

Stage three is about adding all the details and the shadows in order to make colours more vivid and bright and contrasted.  The funny thing about this watercolour is that it will be sooner hung on one of the halls of the house that it depicts at number 13, rue Pierre de Blois in Blois.