Midnight Mahal - stage 1

I couldn't quite fix in my mind how the next Atkinson Grimshaw-inspired painting was going to look so I have got on with my other nocturne idea of a pretty dark painting with no light source showing, the brightest parts of the picture only in mid-tones and lots of dark dramatic shapes. I settled on a moonlit Taj Mahal using reference that I had shot on location last year with this kind of view in mind although now I am looking at it as I write this post I think that I am showing too much of the Taj. I want it more about the shapes and lighting and less about the subject matter so I may well put some more foliage and trees in front of it before proceeding.
This stage was painted with a small bristle brush and rag using a mix of Ultramarine Violet and Indranthene Blue thinned with Liquin and turpentine.