I wanted to paint something in the downtown Detroit area. I went to Greek Town. It has a lot of ethnic Greek establishments. There were Greek and American flags hanging over the street. Music was playing. It smelled great.

I got there early  in the afternoon. I did the painting with backlighting. This way the persons near the truck appear as silhouettes and the flags appear as light is showing through them. I used perspective so it looks like you can walk right down the street. These techniques give a magic or romantic feeling to the painting. I also suggest using a car or a person in a painting to add interest. You might have a very well painted scene, but without the car or person (or dog, horse, bird, etc) the scene is boring. The addition of these things adds interest.