This old store stands in NC 32 in Chowan County, NC. How I captured it in oil paint on gessoed paper:

The pink gesso informs most of the painting, unifying it.

The ochre of the ground plain is echoed in the sky, providing atmosphere. It will also show up in the siding and plywood of the store

The tarmac and grisailled concrete pad are in the same colors.

The red earth in the roof and on the brick piers was already in the sky mix from the first pass.

I rendered the siding and window panels en grisaille, too, for texture. In several places I painted thinly to suggest the decaying wood, in contrast to the concrete, which has weathered beautifully.

Some of the building’s paint remains on the broad side and on its front. It was easy enough to mix its salmon color from colors used in the foreground, background, and sky. I handled the remaining tin (or zinc) on the roof in the same way: it shares colors with the sky.

The distant treeline is uniquely colored because it is the only living thing in the scene. Life has passed the building by and is far down the road in the future. The building has no more use but stands as a monument.