Home of the "Garbage Plate"

This is a scene from Rochester, NY. Many cities have foods they are known for, and this one is no exception. Nick Tahou's is a restaurant that originated the "Garbage Plate" back in 1918. This was their first location and it's still operating. Many other restaurants have tried to recreate it, but nothing is like the original: hots and cheeseburgers piled over macaroni salad and hashbrowns, and topped with onions and a special hot sauce... you can't visit Rochester without trying one! (Just bring some antacid...)

Watercolor paper (140 lb. or higher—I’m using 300 lb., 100% cotton, cold press. My painted area will be 8.5" x 6.5")
Painter’s tape
Palette
Pencil
Eraser
Paper towel
Container of water
Spray bottle of water
Straight edge / ruler
Paint brushes (I use a variety of flats and one small round for details)
Traditional gouache paints (In the spirit similar to the Zorn palette):
- Orange Lake Deep
- Yellow Ochre
- Payne’s Gray
- Titanium White

Optional: A hard surface, especially if working on a thinner paper. You may want a stronger tape to hold the paper to the board for that. You can also work in a sketchbook that has watercolor paper that is at least 140 lb.

SOME TIPS BEFORE STARTING:

Tip #1: You may also want to have a scrap piece of watercolor paper available to test colors on. Gouache is known for a particular behavior that takes getting used to: because they have a large color shift, dark colors tend to dry light, and light colors tend to dry dark. Due to this fact, when you make up a color you will need a lot of, you will want to have a generous amount of it. Otherwise, you’ll be trying to mix it and having a hard time matching the dried version of it. There are times it’s not as crucial, such as in nature or across bricks of a building, however if you have a large swathe of area, such as the smooth side of a house or an even area of road, you will want to have enough of the color to make it through the entire motion.

Tip #2: Gouache is a wonderful medium, as it allows you to paint transparent OR opaque. When determining what level your paint is at before you apply it to the paper, one rule I’ve heard is to look at the paint on the brush. If you can see the bristles through it, it’s most likely transparent. If you can’t see the bristles, it’s leaning towards opaque and should be able to cover what you paint it on.

Tip # 3: When taking a break, spray the palette with water, cover with a wet paper towel, and stick it in a plastic bag to slow the paints from drying.

Tip #4: When removing tape at the end, use the warm setting of a blow drier on the tape and slowly peel it directly backwards, flatly against itself.

Tip #5: Some of my wooden paint brushes have sharp ends for a reason! By using a pencil sharpener, I created a point to use to scrape lines through the paint when I need it (such as for thin grass), or lift globs or hairs out of the paint when they accidentally get in.

Begin by taping off the edges of your paper. Pay attention to the side of the paper you are using, as often cold press paper has a smoother side and a more dimpled side like orange peel. I prefer the smoother side, both for sketching and so the paint doesn’t collect in the little ‘wells.’ Adhere the paper to the board if you are using one.

You can transfer the image to the paper in a variety of ways or simply sketch it from what you see. With an image that has straight edges, proportions, and perspective like this one, I’ll be transferring it by covering the back with graphite, taping it down, and drawing over the main lines. The softer the graphite, the better it transfers. I use a 4B pencil.

Most outlines will be necessary, but don’t bother with the inside of signs, as we will be painting the signs complete with color and then painting the lettering after it dries.

(From here on out, I will be abbreviating the paint names as: gray, orange, yellow, and white).

Spray the paper with water. This will help it receive the gouache like watercolor and retain the ability to blend the colors and soften the edges.

Using the gray, create a good size pool of watery color. You can always add more, so keep it light! (Remember the rule of color shift!) You may want to use your sample paper to test the color. By keeping it watery, you can still see your pencil lines below.

To paint the sky, lightly brush the paper with the color and gently move it where you want it to go. Don’t worry about going over anything that is going to be dark like the lamp posts, as gouache is an opaque paint and will be layered on once the sky has fully dried.

Another note: Once you have the look you want, try not to overwork the sky by continually brushing it. You have more of a chance of leaving brush marks or darkening the sky if you keep adding layers of color, unless you want to. The good news is, skies are different all the time, so whatever you create will be fine. You do not have to go by the resource picture! Give it a few minutes to dry before moving on to the next step.

Now that the sky is dry, the rest of the areas will be blocked in with light versions of their colors, ready to receive more layers and still keeping the pencil lines visible. Blocking in is giving various shapes an overall color. Gouache is a process of layers, and by blocking in with a light layer first, you start to see the painting come together by removing all the white of the paper. Another aspect of gouache that makes it a wonderful medium is that not only can you layer dark over light, but you will also be able to add light over dark later in the process!

Mix together a large, watery pool of a brick color for the building (orange with a little bit of gray). Paint in all the areas where the brick will be.

Create another large, watery pool of warm gray for the roof (gray with a dab of orange). Paint the roofs and windows. Add a touch more orange to the pool and use to paint in the building on the far left and the beige areas on the building, as well as the sidewalks. The scalloped dormers on the building are a lighter pinkish color. You can achieve something close to this by adding a little white to the orange.

For the road, notice how it’s a little darker than the sky. Make a watery pool of slightly darker gray and paint that in as well. Again, all the white lines will go in later.

For the trees and grasses, create a pool of green by mixing the gray with the yellow. This isn’t what you commonly picture for green, but with this color palette, it tricks the eye enough to know it is trees and shrubbery. The more distant the trees, the cooler and lighter the color should be. Again, this is just general blocking in, paying attention to values of light and dark. Details will be done with more intense color later.

The cars and buses can be blocked in with a watery light or mid-tone gray. Continue in other areas you see.

We create depth by adding in layers of values. At this point, we’ll start building new layers of shadows and introducing richer colors. Still using a thinner, watercolor consistency, add paint to darker areas such as where the brick shows uneven color, or staining and shadows in the roof. Where there are swatches of shadow or darker color, keep the brush strokes horizontal in the direction of the tiles or bricks. We don’t want to create all the actual lines where the shingles or bricks are, but would rather indicate that there are shingles and groupings of bricks. After general shadows are applied and have dried, use another layer of color to add groupings of bricks in various areas, indicating that the building is a brick building. We can also start bringing in some details, such as pipes and poles.

Some layers will need white added to them to help with the value or cover areas, such as the concrete trim on the building, the “white” signs, the yellow cross light, fire hydrant, and traffic lights. You will see how adding more white gets a creamier consistency and gives it good covering power. Also bear in mind that using true white is rare—most whites are a blend with just a touch of another color. Try to keep your white for the absolute brightest accent areas or an area you want to draw focus, such as portions of the Nick Tahou sign.

Now we’re at the stage of finishing more areas with details. The signs, the men on the curb, the cars and buses.

For the trees, focus on values, making the tops of the closer trees lighter and more detailed, but keeping the back trees more muted and loose.

To create more balance and utilize the colors that I have better, I’ve opted to change colors of the cars from the reference photo and have the red traffic lights lit instead of the yellow ones.

Finally, darken the road if needed. Once it is fully dry, pencil in the white and yellow road lines and paint them in. The last thing you’ll want to do is take a good look around and see if you’ve left anything out. Squint at it and see if your values are looking correct or need beefing up in any places. You can also add final highlights at this point such as the white fur on the man's coat collar and the white reflections on the lamp post globes.

And you’re done! Don’t forget Tip #3 for removing the tape from your paper.