Starting a New Painting

I spent the morning working on a sketch for a new watercolor.  My plan had been to lay out rough sketches for two works, but the photo I had with me for the second drawing didn't give me enough information even to make a start.  The time wasn't wasted, however, as I got more thinking and actual drawing done on the first one than I had expected.

This sketch has a very peculiar look as it was drawn on white drawing paper but looks very yellowish with some ghosting that appear to be the spines of books.  Instead of taking a photo and uploading the image that way, I put the sketch pad on the printer and scanned it.  The glass must need cleaning!

The subject of this painting is the mews* behind our hotel in London.  It was a lovely area which I felt would make an equally pleasing painting.  This is the view as one walked into this particular mews:

As usual I am taking liberties to make a more interesting/attractive composition.  If we walked into the mews and turned right, here's what we'd see:  

A less pleasing composition, but aren't those colors wonderful!!!  Can you guess what I plan to do?

At any rate, this is the beginning, and I will record it as the work develops.

The following definition is from Merriam Webster's New Third New International Dictionary

* mews: stables esp. a range of stable usu. with carriage houses and living quarters built around a yard, court, or street, (2) living quarters or housing developed from such stables . . .