Can I Pull This Off?

Some of this is fun: I like the challenge of getting the color of the wall just right (it's under tungsten lighting, so it should have a more yellow cast) and of gradually shading it as it goes from top to bottom. The figures are fun. The background will be easy— the lights and signage in the distance won't be hard to do.

But then we get into the type on the Rita's sign, which has to be perfect. I can't do perfect. I see phenomenal work on the internet by artists who are Photorealists, or Hyper Realists, and as much as I'd like to, I just can't rise to that level of illusion. But I do want the painting to be believable, and the lettering on the sign has to be really precise or it's going to be incongruous with the rest of the image.

Rita's, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)