Echoes in the Haze: The Spirit of 1950s Madrid.

The Story Behind the Painting

After my exhibitions in San Fernando and Gibraltar, I felt the need to define a common theme for my next series of watercolors. The idea had been growing for some time: to portray life in towns and cities during the early and mid-20th century—how people moved, dressed, worked, and played.

Using old black-and-white photographs as a base, my goal is to translate those moments into color, recovering the distinctive atmosphere of a bygone era through careful color study and artistic interpretation.

I had previously explored this theme in isolated paintings, but it was time to develop it more deeply. While revisiting my photo archives, I came across a compelling reference: a morning traffic scene on Madrid’s Gran Vía from the 1950s. It had everything I look for in a subject—depth and perspective across multiple planes, strong contrasts of light and shadow, harmony of shapes, and an overall composition ready to be transformed into a story in watercolor.

About the Painting Process

Since the original image was in black and white, it gave me full freedom to reinterpret the color. I decided to heighten the contrast between the cool tones of the cars and shadows, and the warm sunlight on the building façades.

Preserving the whites and emphasizing the awning highlights and reflections were key. I also wanted to try something new: a kind of sfumato effect in the upper parts of the buildings and the background, to evoke a misty morning atmosphere and enhance the sense of depth.

As seen in the sketches, I planned a horizontal flow of dark shapes across the middle section of the scene, increasing the visual weight in the center and reinforcing a vertical focal light slightly off-center to the right. This interplay of tonal values was central to the composition’s emotional tone.

This was, without a doubt, one of the most technically demanding pieces I’ve completed—due to its size, detail, and complexity of effects. But I felt it was time to raise the bar, and I’m very happy with the outcome.

My ultimate goal? To make the viewer feel transported. If someone can walk through those streets, feel the crisp morning sun, hear the traffic, and catch the glint of light on the wet pavement—then I’ve done my job.

Materials and Technical Details

📐 Size: 55 × 55 cm
🔲 Format: Square
📄 Paper: Arches, 600g, cold press (fine grain)
🎨 Watercolors: Schmincke Horadam & Daniel Smith
🎨 Palette: Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue, Violet (Schmincke), Alizarin Crimson, Chromium Orange, Yellow Ochre.
📅 Date: February 2025

Sketch and Color Study

This scene required careful planning, especially in tonal continuity and focal distribution. Below is the preparatory study, including:

• Simplified tonal map
• Value zones (middle and dark values across horizontal center)
• Custom palette to balance warmth and coolness
• Study of atmospheric fading and perspective

📷 Preliminary sketch and color wheel below:

Final Thoughts

This painting is a love letter to an era and a city in motion. It’s about finding poetry in the ordinary—cars in traffic, shadows creeping along wet pavement, the hum of a city waking up. It challenged me technically and creatively, and pushed my limits in scale, detail, and emotional storytelling.

If you’ve ever wandered Madrid at dawn, you might recognize the feeling.

You can explore the rest of my watercolor collection by clicking the link below.

🔗 [View Portfolio]