Deciding on the scene

Sometimes there is so much going on with a scene, that it is difficult to know where to start, let alone how to go about painting it.

My advice.  RESTRICT THE SCENE TO SOMETHING SIMPLE.  Look for the INTERESTING feature in a scene and draw that.  You can always add to it in another drawing.  Plus,  make a few 'Ideas' sketches, to get the feel for the drawing and the scene you want to paint.

Here's what I mean:

(courtesy Google Street View) 

Where to begin - so I moved along the road a bit and happened upon this:


 
 (courtesy Google Street View)
 
It was tempting to draw the seated statues to the right, but then I thought the doorway looked lovely - an interesting shaped porch, shadows cast across it - Yes, this is the scene for me....

 

 Still a sketch of the original scene, but simplified.