Watercolor Architecture Tutorial: Turning 3 Photos Into One Painting
For this experimental architectural watercolor, I combined three altered versions of the same photograph into one fragmented composition. By slicing the images into vertical sections and shifting the colors while maintaining consistent values, I could distort San Juan Cathedral without completely losing the architecture.
Sometimes a painting begins with inspiration.
Sometimes it begins with a mildly questionable idea that somehow refuses to leave your brain.
For this watercolor of the Catedral Basilica Menor de San Juan Bautista in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, I decided to take a perfectly respectable travel photograph and make things unnecessarily complicated. Naturally.
Turning Three Photographs Into One Watercolor
The process started by duplicating the original image three times. Two of those copies were stretched vertically along the Y-axis only (not the X-axis—there are limits to the madness). After that, I brought the images into Photoshop and sliced them into alternating vertical bands, combining sections of all three into a completely reworked composition.
The goal was simple: create something visually more dynamic than a straightforward architectural rendering while still preserving the recognizable character of Old San Juan.
Keeping the Values Consistent
Then came the watercolor challenge.
Instead of painting the cathedral consistently across the image, I wanted each vertical section to feel slightly different. The structure and values needed to remain believable, but the colors would shift from panel to panel—cool violets, muted neutrals, warmer creams, soft blues—carefully alternating without becoming repetitive. Easier said than done.
The trick was keeping the value structure consistent. Even when colors changed, the light and shadow relationships had to stay believable or the entire thing would collapse into visual chaos.
Surprisingly, the result works.
Or at least it works better than this idea probably deserved.
Breaking the Rules Without Destroying the Painting
What could have become a complete compositional disaster somehow lands somewhere between architectural watercolor, abstraction, and fragmented memory—almost like viewing Old San Juan through shifting pieces of time, light, and atmosphere.
This kind of experimentation reminds me why watercolor stays interesting. Sometimes trying something slightly ridiculous leads to something unexpectedly successful.
And occasionally, the insanity pays off.
Watch the full painting process and creative chaos online now.
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Ryan Fox AWS, NWS, TWSA
Ryan Fox Painting
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