The Fountain Cleaner

A Step-by-Step Watercolor Painting Demonstration

This painting was inspired by a trip to Aix-en-Provence. I really love to meander through the “Old Town” section of Aix, where I often take my workshop students to paint. The Old Town is filled with a series of sunny squares, filled with cafes, chic shops, and many fountains, some spring-fed. In ancient times, these fountains served as the sole water supply for the many houses and buildings surrounding the squares. It is still in these squares where the native Aixoise gather to shop for fresh produce, flowers, clothes or to simply enjoy the good life of the city known as “the queen of Provence”. I always find interesting sights and interesting people to paint as I did here at the fountain in the Place de L’Hotel de Ville. The Aixoise take great pride in their artistic heritage and spare no expense in the preservation and maintenance of their monuments and sculptural infrastructure, as expressed here by my admiration for the fountain cleaner. His job is to make a circuit of the many f…