Putting together an Urban Composition

I am very excited to begin work on a new commission... A 3' x 6' painting to go in a conference room for a corporate office space downtown.... The client was taken with my painting, "Fall on Chestnut Street"

Fall on Chestnut Street, 36 x 48 oil on canvas

but it was not the right size for their conference room wall. "Can you give us a painting like this, but different... sized to fit our wall?"

This painting was done from sketches and photos taken more than 3 years ago, which I still have, thank goodness, since it is mid-winter, and the fall colors are a long way off. So I went down to 33rd Street to see what I could see and took a number of photos. Here is the current view from 33rd and Chestnut Street:

Notice that the Comcast Center is now in the skyline but a new building is going up on the North corner of the intersection. I thought the view from Market Street might be a better alternative for the painting... it offered the complete skyline, plus a tiny City Hall in the center...

but the client was not interested in this idea. My instructions were- 

1. use the Chestnut Street view

2. make the Comcast Center more visible

3. no cabs, more pedestrians

4. make grassy area on the right more pronounced

5. no construction site

6. not too many cars

7. rich palette with fall colors like the original Fall on Chestnut painting

8. especially like the light and playfulness of the piece

9. Street level more important than background buildings

10. No Drexel Flags, no stoplights impinging on the skyline

hmmmm... back to 33rd Street for more photos.

Here is my initial sketch-

Difficult to get a perspective that works in this wide horizontal format...

My blocked in composition

Submitting this for client approval... stay tuned!

In the meantime, I also did a little sketch from the Market Street perspective...

Crossing Market Street  oil on canvas  12 x 24