These first washes for the figures and fountain are all about establishing temperature. The shadows and water will be predominantly cool, so I want lots of warm reflected light instead of cool grays. That will help build an exciting contrast and will hopefully make the painting more visually interesting. Also, notice that there will be plenty of warm colors in the overall cool shadows and vice versa for balance and harmony. Do not be afraid to push your colors. Try to get away from the "Payne's Gray doldrums" that haunt most beginners' work.
At this point, I am defining the figure by surrounding the lightest areas with washes of Raw Sienna. This is merely the first layer of many that will eventually create a three-dimensional appearance, but you can begin to see the forms.
I decided to put in some of my darkest darks behind the fountain to establish my value range (this painting will run the full gamut, from white paper to almost black).
