Infrastructure paintings around aqueduct

Running through Verdun from the river is a long aqueduct that ends right around where the highways meet and there is an electrical station. There was a lot going on in this scene, with a building, trees, the driveway and sidewalk, then the station itself which is a tangle of posts and wires. Seeing the perspective though the trees is important here, everything was on a two-point perspective meaning that things are drawn out to the left and right. I used to only paint things square-on to avoid perspective as much as possible, but I got a lot better at it over the years. 

Electrical station Verdun, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

A large field sits adjacent to the aqueduct, one can safely assume there is a water reservoir underneath else the land would have been developed. Its also raised up about 4 or 5 meters from street level, so there is clearly something underneath this enormous field. It is used to play cricket, and offers up good views of the downtown panorama. For composition, I included a sports bench at the bottom left to give an angle and some foreground depth element. The grass was quite dry, parts of it were painted with yellow-orange (PY110).

Aqueduct field, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

Here is one of many such structures next to the aqueduct, in fact, there is a whole building that looks like a castle almost. A tall fence separates the aqueduct from Verdun so the sight lines are limited. At night the buildings are lit up, I eyed the scene once at night but passed on it. Instead, I did a painting called 'Moon over power station' that turned out well, and I just noticed that blog had 67 views. I notice that the older blogs seem to accumulate more and more views which is cool. I will keep it going. 

Aqueduct structure, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025 

Happy Canada day! Painting in Verdun

 

Its Canada day, so what better painting to do than one of a pile of tires... at the local Canadian Tire store in Verdun. The real Canadian Tire sign has an inverted red triangle with a green maple leaf on the top, but I used artistic license to change it to the center piece of the Canadian flag. And there was something for everyone in this scene, I got to paint two more dumpsters, red and green. The rest of the scene is typical Verdun with its tall three-level condos clad in brown brick surrounded by plenty of green trees. Verte et Brun is the nickname of Verdun. 

Canadian Tires, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

 

This flower shop is on the lower floor of a triplex on Wellington, the bike path is running perpendicular from this point. Canadian tire is just behind me on the left. Getting all the shades of brown and brick textures was a lot of fun... I started mixing the green umber (PBr7) with burnt sienna (PR101) to get the right colour. The little balconies had ornate iron railing painted black. 

Flower Shop Wellington, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

 

On the Verdun street bike path there is a fresh fruit and vegetable market called dépanneur Regina. Like many of the shops it is on the bottom level of a triplex. Wellington street, which runs parallel to Verdun street about two blocks south, was closed off from traffic to create a sidewalk sale for pedestrians. 

Fruit Store Verdun path, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025 

Elevated train and other odd scenes

The new elevated commuter train dominates the skyline in and around Point st Charles. In this scene, you see it soaring over Wellington street with the rusty old train bridge in the middle. It was a complicated scene to paint, I started with the light pole and then crossed it with the train bridges. Working up the detail with a small #2 brush, I finished with pops of green and orange, and my initials in graffiti on the rusty bridge. Compared to the last location, it was quite noisy here with all the traffic. 

El over Wellington, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

 

In the massive train-car depot at the end of Point st Charles, there are some weird structures, I saw them from the train on the way in last week, then found a good spot to stand and paint them today. On the left are yellow and maroon train cars, in the center is some kind of tall processing tower, on the right are massive silos connected by booms and tubing. It was almost an illustration this one, I established the detail with the #2 brush, then worked in the colour layers. The reflection on the silos is actually a simple two-tone wash with a strip of paper showing through. 

Odd structures, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

 

Lastly, I found this scene in the shade, it is looking up at the elevated train towards the south. The whole painting was about the sweeping arc, so I started with that by using a 1 inch wide brush loaded with the warm grey. If you start with the brush horizontal, moving to the right and then up, it creates the arc shape in one brush stroke. The rest of the painting was filler, although I should say the sidewalk really turned out well. I must have painted sidewalks thousands of times by now, they appear in many of the location scenes in Montreal! 

Sweeping curve, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Train depot and the real Hipster hangout

Down in Point st Charles, known simply as 'The Point' to locals, there are great views of the train depot. I was reminded of the location upon returning from Toronto on the VIA train, it went right past a lot of these scenes. I often scout out locations from the vantage point of the train when I am on it. If you follow my blog you will remember this train depot on a cold day, in that blog I lamented the difficulty of the conditions due to severe wind chill. Thinking today would be better I headed down there by bike and made this smaller version of the scene on a vertical format. In fact, the wind was so strong that this one was a challenge too, the paper kept blowing up and down despite the elastic holding it down. Once again, the turquoise train was in the foreground and I quite enjoyed making the colour with variations of phthalo green (PG7) and indo blue (PB60).

Train depot summer, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

I was painting in and around the hipster brew pub a few weeks ago, but this spot is the real hipster hangout. The building is long and narrow, I painted it before, in this version I was looking at a perpendicular angle from the sidewalk at one of the store fronts and the restored land in the foreground. It used to be a train maintenance building, now it houses community run shops and spaces. Someone was playing jazz music on a clarinet at one of the cafes here. 

 Hipster hangout, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

A little further towards the city and I found this view of the downtown skyline (that is mount Royal in the distance) with a sound barrier next to the train yard. It was remarkably silent here, almost complete silence with a pleasant breeze and warm sun. 

Sound barrier, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Tall tree and shadows near canal

This enormously tall tree is growing right next to the Lachine canal near the bridge where I painted the graffiti. I composed the scene with about 3/4 sky and 1/4 ground on a portrait format. Portrait means tall and narrow (vertical) rather than landscape format which is horizontal. The idea was to create a sense of vastness in the sky, with the canal just snaking along the ground next to the grass and trees. To get the yellow highlights on the top of the tree I daubed on the vanadium yellow (PY184). 

Tall tree canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

My shadow was being cast onto the surface of the canal as the sun got low. The colour was more of a greenish hue, I mixed navy blue (PB60) with umber (PBr7), but then made the mistake of adding a dab of burnt umber (PBr7) which made a charcoal hue. Next time I am down there I will try this one again. 

Shadow in canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

These trucks were parked in the depot, with the sun in the background. The shadows were coming out at interesting angles due to the position of the sun and the perspective. It was a challenge to see if I could make a dramatic painting out of parked truck trailers. As it had rained heavily earlier in the day, there were puddles everywhere in the gravel lot. 

Truck shadows, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Remains of the lake and other scenes

The island of Montreal in the 16th century was covered in lakes and rivers including the 4 km long Otter lake, or Little st Pierre lake. Eventually the Lachine canal brought the end of the lake, which is now occupied by highway 20, the Turcot interchange, and some light industrial zoning. For years, I have rode past this inconspicuous looking drainage ditch near the truck depot beside the canal, the ditch was part of the Turcot project that saw a complete rebuilding of the road and restoration of much of the nature surrounding the highways. Now this ditch is surrounded in lush greenery and trees. In some ways, it represents what remains of the lake. 

Remains of the lake, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

Where the highway off ramp rises up over the canal, there is a tall retaining wall that got covered in massive sections of graffiti. In this case its my initials, and the year spray-painted on the bike path. Unlike graffiti artists, who commit vandalism, I put paint on the paper not the walls! The main subject matter was actually the interesting plants growing in the strip of grass next to the retaining wall, there were a variety of cone flower plants and other types.  

Growth near path, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

I don't usually paint graffiti very specifically, but in this case it seemed funny that someone put a friendly looking cartoon ice cream cone on the supporting pillar under the bridge. Just past this post is the Lachine canal bike path and the canal itself. To make the concrete colours I use a lot of umber (PBr7), it is a paint with the colour of tea with milk, and the consistency of chunky mud! 

Ice cream graffiti, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Cool pool for a fool

 

When I got back from my exciting walk downtown Bolton, where I saw a squirrel, shops, and boarded up houses, I was extremely hot and sweaty due to the record breaking temperatures. Then I walked past one of the neighbor's yard who has a small pool. Several people walked by and I had my joke ready (If I cant swim in it, at least I can paint it), but nobody asked me what I was doing! Psychologically, my body cooled down just staring into the shimmering turquoise water. It was all I could do not to hop the small fence and canon-ball in there. When thinking about this year's extreme heat wave, this is the painting that will come to mind. 

Cool pool, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025