Riga oil painting

I've been working on another street painting (not the impressive chalk variety), this time Riga in Latvia. The street struck me as puzzling and oddly British when I saw it which is why I took the photo. It's in many ways a simpler composition than my last one but I've struggled with this one.

First I did and re-did the outlines several time. The perspective turned out to be a bitch to get right, particularly on the car in the foreground. I hate cars. (but I seem to have a masochistic desire to carry on painting them):

Then I painted the building lit by the bright Baltic sun. This took me bloody ages because I once again struggled with the perspective.

I didn't like the cleanness of the windows though, they were a return to my more detailed approach of old. So I went a bit crazy the following evening by slapping paint on to Sonic Youth which really freed up my style. I then spent the rest of the evening researching into Kool Thing, a song based on a particularly awkward interview between Kim Gordon and LL Cool J. Evening WELL SPENT.

Then I did the sky because it's fun and easy before starting on the building to the right. I STILL wasn't happy with the car though and spent about a month painting it again and again. It was too light to be in the shadow and too deformed to be roadworthy.

Here's the finished painting. I added a couple walking in the sun. The perspective on those pesky windows still ain't right, I may just have to tinker with them a bit. At least the car's better.