Across the Neighborhoods

 

Final destination st Hubert street, took me across at least six neighborhoods including NDG, Hampstead, Outremont, Mile End, Little Italy and La Petite-Patrie where I stopped to make this painting. The location is Place Hector-Prud'homme a tiny postage stamp of a park mostly paved with concrete, its surrounded by what appear to be crab apple trees that were in full pink blossom. Sitting to eat a snack and rest after a long bike ride, the fellow on the bench down the way started smoking some pungent pot that wafted over. Along with the Arabic music he was playing on the radio it was quite the experience painting these flowers high up in the sky. First I outlined the flowers in purple magenta (PR122) then filled in the bus and building outlines, and finished with the green foliage, dark brown branches and details on the bus which I had to memorize since buses tend to move a lot.

Crab-apple Flowers High, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2024

 

To get to the Aquarium du Nord I cut down this rather smelly alley it was recycling day apparently the cat didn't mind. Some of the alleys in Montreal are astounding, I've seen photography books that feature such scenes. The back alleys are mainly for access, services, and emergencies, but they also take on a life of their own. Various cladding, facades, murals, brick, rust, wood, wired and steel staircases adorned this scene adjacent to st Hubert street. A cat walked by, but it looks more like a dog in the painting!

Alley Cat Smelly Alley, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2024

 

It's been a good few days for the flowering trees, last year it was very brief then we got rain and wind. This year the flowers came out and this weekend especially it was perfect. With rain on tap for the next three days I may have caught the window. This pink tree was just above the Beaubien metro station which I have painted before on several occasions during the 68 station of the Montreal metro series. The only spot to set up was on a distant corner, the rest of the sidewalk was too narrow and crowded to place my bike. I made the pink tree more detailed than the rest of the painting so it stands out more. The traffic was painted as if it were moving, which it was of course. It captures that fleeting moment in the city when you see something colourful and interesting.

Pink tree over Beaubien Station, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2024

Brewery st Ambrose summer patio

 

Maybe it would have been nice to stop and have a pint of cream ale on tap here, but I was working after all. That didn't stop the cyclists going by, even the ones wearing spandex they were going in for a pint. I could hear people roaring drunk with laughter and everyone seemed to be having a good time. In the background you see the old factory with the famous pink house on top. The pink house is a part of the factory, some creative vigilante artists scaled up the building and painted it pink with green roofs. There are even faux flower planters under the windows. I've painted the pink house many times from various angles, I suppose one day the whole thing will be taken down and replaced with a condo. I liked this scene because it says a lot about the Lachine Canal's past and present. It used to be a heavy industrial area before the modern ports were built, and over the past twenty odd years its gentrified and become a recreation park. There is another pub down by Verdun, it looks quite popular too and offers some views of the bike path and canal. 

To paint this, I started by outlining the scene with a pale grey (no pencil just watercolour). I composed the scene by compressing the background elements, in real life they were much further apart. I also decided to cut off the foreground to give maximum focus on the sky and pink house soaring above the red umbrellas of the summer patio. The sky was done wet in wet, a dilute yellow followed by blue and blue-green around the clouds, finished with a purplish grey for the cloud shadows. The pink of the pink house is a paint from Schmincke I got from Avenue des arts in Westmount, it called purple magenta which has pigment code PR122. Other companies have this paint but the names vary. I always look to the pigment code to know what I am getting since the names of paints are kind of random.

Brewery st Ambrose summer patio, watercolour 8 x 10" 80lb cold press, May 2024

Bike Ride Lachine Canal path from end to end

With a chance of rain I rode down to Lachine park where they have an area called arboretum which means tree area. I've been waiting for these trees to turn red, today they were a mix of pale pink, greenish and some dark red. The dandelions were very prominent, bright yellow against a rich yellow-green. This park is just next to the beginnings of the Lachine canal, although that would be behind me from this vantage point.

To paint the dandelions the grass is done first, leaving little holes were the flowers go, then the yellow is applied over top. I used yellow paint that has code PY154, and a touch of orange which has paint code PO62. The paint codes are on the tubes, and there are some tables of information also available on the internet, but the best place to go is Blundell's website and check out her labeled colour swatches. 
 

Pinkish Trees next to st Laurence River, watercolour, 5 x 7" cold press, May 2024

 

This white blossoming tree was almost glittering in the bright sun. It reminded me a lot of a Monet painting, where he had a woman in a pink tress reading a book underneath a tree like this. The tree was done with a wet in wet wash to begin. After that dried I applied several textural layers from light to dark. Finally I daubed in some brighter yellows and yellow-oranges. The hardest part was the grassy area with dandelions, my wrist ached a little after doing all the brushwork! It took a little while this one, but it was worth it. Of course I had to throw in the fire hydrant and row of cars on st Patrick street.

White blossoming tree next to bike path, watercolour 8 x 10" 80lb cold press, May 2024

 

At the end of a great ride down the canal path, slaloming through all the pedestrians and slow cyclists, I made it to the peel Basin which is the other end of the Lachine canal. The old rusty train bridge is on the bottom, it is still in use, while the new elevated commuter bridge is just above it, you can see one of the weekend rail car pairs going across. A pile of condos adorns this part of Montreal, they keep jamming them into this neighborhood. I was glad that there were only a few dandelions to paint here!

Bridges over Canal Peel Basin, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2024

Red bench, green grass

 

The fire station keeps good care of the front driveway and lawn areas, each spring they paint the bench with a fresh coat of red paint and take care of the community herb garden in the form of a tall mound of earth. With the grass finally turning a bright green there was a contrast of red and green that tempted me to make this painting on the way to the grocery store. Even though the bench was a very bright red, the sun light and the reflected light from the ground made the red a bit paler around the edges. I used pyrol red (PR254) which is also called Ferrari red, its probably the exact same pigment they used to paint the bench. We finally have decent weather on tap for the weekend so hopefully I can get out for a good ride and some painting.

Red bench, green grass, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2024

Snowdon Bakery Delivery Door

We are lucky to have a few great bakeries in town including Meunerie Urbaine up on Monkland avenue, and Snowdon Bakery down on Harley street. In the painting I depict the delivery door of the Snowdon bakery where trucks roll up to the driveway and bring in carts full of flour and baking supplies in. There is an even bigger door for bringing palettes in and out around the side. There is a large antique vent on the wall, it used to have a rusted patina until they painted it with red ochre (iron oxide) rust protecting coat. On the right you can see Rafi auto mechanic in the background with its distinctive painted white brick walls and red trim. 

I liked the subtle variations in yellows, you see the yellow dandelions on the bottom right near my signature, the yellow post which protects the brick wall from trucks backing up, and the pale yellow ochre bricks. Mixing these three shades of yellow is tricky, the bricks are yellow ochre (PY43) with some greyish purple mixed in (PB60 + PR179 + PV55), the post is similar but with bright yellow added (PY154), and the dandelions are bright yellow with a dab of orange (PY154 + PO62). Sometimes I think these 'lunch hour' paintings or 'on my way to somewhere else' paintings are the best ones!

Snowdon Bakery Delivery Door, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2024

More spring colours in Montreal

 

In springtime the tulips pop up, the trees flower, and new leaves emerge bright green and yellow. But the most notable colour in spring is orange, I call it Montreal orange! Terrebonne street is being all torn up to remove the lead pipes connecting to houses, which entails a square hole to be cut followed by insertion of some complex metal box device. Considering that they just paved the road a few years back its interesting how now they decide to cut holes in it again. The good thing about construction is that the roads are blocked off partially so I could stand on one side and easily paint the view opposite. Cars were slowing down and stopping because they thought I was some kind of police officer writing tickets, that happens from time to time when I am painting in the neighborhood. To mix Montreal orange I combine pyrol orange (PO73) with benzi orange (PO62) so that it will look accurate after scanning and showing on a screen.

Montreal Orange on Terrebonne, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2024

Pink Tree Next Door

After a long and dreary winter and protracted rainy spring we finally get a bit of colour in the neighborhood including some local tulips, and this tree from a few weeks back. Today the sky cleared and we had a sunny afternoon, this painting was done just before sunset looking to the neighbor's house and their neat pink flowering tree, probably a crab apple. Flower petals were already falling to the ground showing us how short these types of blooms remain. The technique for this drew on the past few attempts. I cut the magenta (PR122) with daubs of yellow ochre (PY43) and some diluted red (PR254). Working in successive layers I applied a damp yellow-orange glow, followed by shadowed red (adding a bit of violet PV55) and then working on the textured daubs as it dried. The rest of the painting is left intentionally drab, a lot of flat green brown and that sensational sky blue. Someone walking by really liked this painting and took a picture of it and got the Instagram address where I post paintings from time to time.

Pink Tree Next Door, watercolour 8 x 10" 80lb cold press, May 2024

World Inspired Landscapes: Myanmar

 

Myanmar, formerly or currently known as Burma is wedged between India, China and several other countries in south east Asia. Its central location puts Myanmar in the midst of global superpowers and multiple cultural influences. Historically, there are Homo erectus remains going back 750,000 years and early humans back to 25,000 years ago. Truly a cradle of humanity, Myanmar saw all of the ages from stone to metal to the internet age! It was ruled by various kingdoms until falling under the British empire until world war 2 when it saw horrendous fighting. Since then, there have been civil wars and controversies within the country on top of severe weather events. The geography of Myanmar is quite diverse, most of it appears to be low lying grasslands probably once jungle cleared for agriculture, rolling hills, and some steep rocky mountains with waterfalls. 

So far in the series I have painted a few waterfalls, Costa Rica and Colombia come to mind as two examples. In this version, I kept the colour scheme subdued, just a dark yellow (PY43 + PBk6) and variations of green and turquoise. To paint the cascading water first I outlined the rocks to give form, then painted in the water textures as if flowing around the rocks. It was a good opportunity to practice some brush techniques and remind myself how the paper handles. I had this paper once before and quite liked it...Strathmore Aquarius II, a synthetic cotton blend cold press watercolour paper, only 80lb weight yet it doesn't buckle even with copious amounts of water. Its discontinued by the manufacturer so I bought all that was remaining at Avenue des Arts, a pack of 10 sheets measuring 22 x 30" .

World Inspired Landscapes: Myanmar, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, May 2024

Vendome metro interior stained glass

 

With 20 minutes to wait for the bus, I made this painting of the stained glass display inside of Vendome metro station. On the left is the turnstile with windows in the distance, on the right is the brightly lit red, orange and yellow-orange stained glass windows set on a dramatic angle. A pipe-sculpture hangs near the window, in its entirety the sculpture has the look of a DNA helix. With an information screen nearby I could see the time, it took about 14 minutes before the bus arrived early and I went out. Someone asked me here I got the art supplies and I said Avenue des Arts in Westmount. This painting, and the other one of people walking up Guy street both take advantage of colour contrast. When you compose bright colours next to dull greyish colours, it makes the bright colours really pop. In this case, Vendome is mostly cold, exposed concrete with metallic finishes, so the delicate stained glass really pops out. That was no doubt the intention of the architect. The overhanging light boxes had bright blue signage which would have made a nice contrast if there had been a few more minutes.

Vendome metro interior stained glass, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2024

Rain on Guy Street

 

I was looking forward to a long bike ride and some painting today but there was steady rain in the forecast all day. Instead, I took public transit down to the Alexis Nihon mall at the Atwater metro and picked up some rain gear at what used to be called Mark's Work Warehouse. Standing outside, although not wearing my new rain gear, I made this quick painting of people walking up Guy street with a but in the background. A lady stopped and said I was good at painting and should keep at it! Bright yellow, red, and orange tulips were coming up in a garden planter between the streets which gave the scene a streak of colour. 

Rain on Guy Street, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2024

Flower power in the neighborhood

 

Although it was overcast today, the flowers were popping up and shining brightly. Knowing about the Cavendish underpass from previous years, I made the short bike ride through cote st Luc and to the train tracks where Cavendish goes under. Both sides of the road have grassy embankments with large flower and shrub gardens and tall pine trees. It's pretty noisy there due to the traffic but not so bad on a weekend like today. To paint the tulips I did most of the background first including the dark dirt (PBr7 burnt umber + PBk6 lamp black) and green foliage (PY154 + PG36 + PBk31) leaving blank space for the tulips flowers, stems and leaves. The fun part was colouring in the the tulips with almost pure yellow, magenta (PR122), and pyrol red in the background tulips (PR254). The numbers are pigment codes, it helps me remember what I did for next time.

White, yellow, pink tulips, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2024

Using a similar technique I painted another part of the garden with almost all yellow tulips, a few magenta ones, and a flowering yellow shrub in the background. I applied dots of ochre (PBr7) and orange (PO62) over the dark dirt colour because that is what Van Gogh seemed to do in his famous Irises painting. I got to see some of his work in Amsterdam up close, but not the irises painting, which hangs in California.

Yellow tulips, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2024

I took a crack at the pink flowering tree across the tree next to the auto shop. There was a neat contrast between the grey structure and black tires sitting beside the delicate foliage. I am still working out the best way to paint such a tree, there may be a few days left to get it right. Anyways, it was great to ride around the neighborhood and paint some colourful scenes today.

Pink tree near auto shop, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2024

Twisty trees and bus

Continuing on the theme of spring trees, this scene shows some of the twisty trees at Loyola Park down the street. The new leaf buds had a dark yellow greenish hue, and the grass was starting to become chartreuse and green. In the background is one of the many apartments on Fielding Avenue, some cars and a city bus with its distinctive yellow, green, and cyan symbol. The walking path ties together the composition by drawing the foreground across into the middle ground. As usual this year, I signed with PJD 24.

Twisty trees and bus, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2024

New leaves and flowers on trees

After work I rode down to the park near Lachine with all the sculptures, hoping to catch the trees with white flowers. They were just putting out the first leaves, a dark red colour in fact. Hopefully they will flower again soon, I painted these trees a few years ago on May 18th with pink flowers, and May 28th when they had brilliant red leaves. The painting was done by applying the background sky and river, then over-painting the tree and finishing with the red dots for the leaves. Pinkish and green highlights made the tree bark glow.
 

New leaves down by river, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2024

 

On Lunch break I grabbed some bread and a sandwich from Snowdon Bakery, then made a quick painting across the street of this tree with white-chartreuse flowers. There are quite a few different species of trees that flower like magnolia, cranberry and cherry. This may be some sort of lilac bush, although lilac flowers come later in the year.

Flowering tree Harley st, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2024

World Inspired Landscapes: Mozambique

Mozambique is a low lying country on the south east coast of Africa facing the direction of Madagascar and the Pacific Ocean. It is rich in mineral resources, wildlife and a distinct Swahili culture. Since ancient times, it was an active port dealing with Arab and Indian seafaring traders until the Portuguese imposed colonialism around the turn of the 15th century. It really wasn't until 1975 that is was independent, making it one of the longest standing colonies in Africa. Since then, much of the Portuguese architecture, culture and language remains, intermixed with Swahili culture and millions of refuges from other parts of south Africa. There are currently political instabilities and insurgencies which hold back Mozambique from realizing the full wealth of the land. One commodity that was prominent in the country, and one reason it garnered so much interest from Europe is the abundant gold. There are some official, and a lot of unofficial mines, making it a dangerous and damaging occupation. To extract gold a mine pit or tunnel can be dug, or, the entire lands can be strip mined. To pan the gold, highly toxic mercury must be added which extracts gold dust and particles. 

In the painting you can see some people peering down into a mine full of gold veins. Its obviously an embellishment, but there are images like this on the internet, and one can imagine 5 hundred years ago maybe there were sparkling caves full of rich gold reserves waiting to plucked from the rock. The painting was done with iridescent moonstone, (PW20) actually a sparkly mica-based paint. The black is lamp black (PBk6), yellow vanadium (PY184) and some yellow ochre (PY43).  Its not obvious from the scan but the painting does sparkle and shimmer when held and angles to the light due to the mica. 

World Inspired Landscapes: Mozambique, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, May 2024

Painting around Hall Building Rainy Day

After a pleasant bike ride downtown to pick up the final exams a sudden rain shower broke out. People ran for the building, probably students heading out to the 2:45 pm exams. I was just waiting for the exam pick up office to open and made this painting standing under the Hall building overhang and looking south on Bishop street. I started with a rough outline including the buildings and running people using dilute black paint. As I filled in the colours the rain was pelting me despite the shelter. To do the sky I applied phthalo blue (PB15) with some black (PBk6) mixed in on the paper.

Rainy day on Bishop st., watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

This was the first one I did as the rain started. The C is backwards because it is meant to be viewed from Maisonneuve. You can see the contrast between the old brick and concrete buildings and the modern green glass and steel sky scrapers.

Rainy day on Bishop st. Concordia ,watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

This is the kind of scene that will give me nightmares for weeks, the dreaded hallway full of lockers. It was challenging to say the least, this scene was a wall of caramel and beige tones and an infinite row of lockers. The lights are simple white shapes outlines in yellow, green and black to give that eerie glow.

Hall in the Hall Building, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

Final Exam Hall Building

The final exam was on the downtown campus today at the Hall building, shown in the background of the painting. I showed up a bit early to find where all the rooms were, that can take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour its so confusing but I managed to locate them all in short order across two different buildings. At any rate, there was a few minutes to make a quick painting standing on one corner looking across at the Hall building which has not changed much on the outside since its creation. Inside there is a hodgepodge of renovations done over the decades. Most recently they have been going floor by floor redoing the surfaces, plumbing, bathrooms, floors, and classrooms. Quite a few people were out and about, a few stressed out students no doubt. The painting composition makes use of a strong 2 point perspective, the sides of the square building receding off into the distance. They have an interesting metal sculpture too, it rotates inwards with the wind. Tomorrow I pick up the exams downtown and weather permitting I can squeeze in another painting. 

Final Exam Hall Building, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

Wellington Street Verdun

After painting up on Maisonneuve I continued the theme of store fronts with this scene on Wellington street in Verdun. For people of my parents generation they knew Verdun as a working neighborhood surrounded by warehouses and factories. Nowadays it is rated the coolest place on the planet, with Wellington street at the epicenter. We went to a great Tandoori restaurant on my birthday, and today I got some takeaway and brought it home today. This scene shows various storefronts with their colourful signage. The whole facade including the balconies was added on top of the old building which would have had a relatively flat facade in the old days. A lot of Verdun is being gentrified in this manner, which had the negative effect of pricing the neighborhood out of range for long time locals. 

Wellington Street Signs, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

 I took another crack at painting the Eglise metro, its one of the most difficult stations to make look good. It looks like a concrete and metal cheese cake went through the blender or something. This angle has some potential but it would look better if I can somehow fit in the bus and more people.

de l'Eglise lamp, watercolour 5 x  7" cold press, April 2024

Lave Auto À La Main

 

After riding past this car wash hundreds of times I always wanted to stop and paint it when the fellows were working there and a car was going through. Since it was early and the sun was shining on the facade, it was the perfect opportunity. Near the end of the painting the guy in the cap, his name was Reza, turns out to be the cousin of the owner and works there occasionally. He loved the painting so much so we made a deal, he got the painting and I could get a free car wash. So if I ever get a car I know where to go!

Lave Auto À La Main,  watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

here is an alternate photo , I took it on the spot with my smart phone which I brought along accidentally, it was in my bag from work on Friday.

 

Recycle Cycle Used Bike Store

 

On the corner of Maisonneuve and Decarie there is a used bike store called Recycle Cycle, it has old bike frames adorning its facade and cars on blocks out front. The cars are probably from the Swedish auto right next door. The building is a simple rectangle with pale green siding and boxy windows. Despite the relative simplicity of the architecture it was a difficult painting to pull off on location, I was standing with my bike in a deep pile of mulch between the bike path and the fence and the wind kept blowing things around. I filled in the background elements with great speed, and spent most of the paint time on the windows, bike frames, and interior of the store with its many hanging bikes. The other day I painted the Girouard exchange which is seen just to the right on this painting, one of the shop keepers came out and said cool painting. He was there today too but didn't take a look this time.

Recycle Cycle, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2024

This was the first painting of the day, I got early to catch the sun shining on the facade of this building, in the afternoon it is backlit. I made some adjustments to the green in the final painting, and made it on a horizontal 8 x 10 instead of the vertical 5 x 7. The first painting of the day on a tip like this is a good warm up.

Recycle Cycle (study), watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

Girouard Exchange

After a tiring day in the office I rode home on the Maisonneuve path and kept riding until I reached the Giouard overpass. Looking northwards I could see the crazy Giouard exchange lanes which I know from driving here several times. If you are driving out of NDG onto the autoroute 15, you have to cross the oncoming lane based on a traffic light. Watching it from above seemed chaotic. The rest of the scene was a typical collage of brick, concrete and asphalt with the occasional tree sprinkled in. The traffic cones were done with pyrol orange (PO73), I like to call it Montreal orange. The sky is slightly different here, in MacEvoy's handprint.com there was a passage on sky colours, he pointed out that the shade of blue is different depending on the location of the sun. The sun (about to set on my left) was casting a more cyan pale glow, with a more blue on the right. The effect may just need to be a bit more subtle. Painting the blue sky is one of my favorite parts of the painting.

Girouard Exchange, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

Mural on Elmhurst and Harley ave

 

Today I painted a scene on Elmhurst and Harley avenues, showing the side of the City Fruit and Grocer, with a view south on Elmhurst, minus the cars this time. I felt like there was enough going on without trying to cram in a row of cars during rush hour, but you can easily imagine that along with the sounds. The side of this building has an interesting mural of animals on a space-like background, you see a heron, a roaring bear and a tiger. This scene incorporates a lot of the character of the neighborhood, including the mural, the other items on the wall, the road and sidewalks and the classic brick condo apartments. It was a warm and sunny, blue sky kind of day although quite chilly.

Mural on Elmhust and Harley ave , watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

World Inspired Landscapes: Morocco

 

Morocco, located on the north west corner of Africa has a long and storied history that goes back to the beginning of humans, through successions of world powers and a lengthy colonial rule that would forever change their culture. Indigenous peoples called Berbers were there long before, and to this day they remain as a distinct people although merged with the Roman and Arab cultures. In Montreal there are Jewish people with Moroccan ancestry because Morocco used to be home to many Jewish people before Israel was created. Now, most Jewish people from Morocco live in Israel, France, Canada and around the world with only a few thousand living in Morocco still. Nowadays Morocco is almost entirely Islamic. Echoing the cultural tapestry is the geographical tapestry. Morocco has beaches, rocks, vast deserts, mountains, tall trees and several islands in the Atlantic Ocean or Mediterranean. The painting was really just based on a single line starting in the sea and working its way to an undulating, then flat landscape capped with some tall green foliage. A few brush strokes in the sky, and some textural effects completed the stripped down composition. I thought about using just one continuous line for the entire scene, but then decided to go with a slightly more realistic approach.

World Inspired Landscapes: Morocco, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, April 2024

Painting Part of the Table

 

Part of the kitchen table is dedicated to my painting supplies. Although I paint outdoors most of the time, on occasion I will sit and paint something, like the painting above, while most of the time I drop off my location gear and work on the palette here. You can see a ruler used to measure paper, a handmade ceramic cup by Naomi that is used to hold brushes, the palette, some brushes including the big hog's hair, two of the Holbeins, and the pink 1 inch I've had for 25 years. Two plastic containers for clean and dirty water, and a well used rag made from an old T shirt complete the picture. Which object doesn't seem to belong? The can of WD40 in the background which I used to degrease my bicycle chain. So don't try to put WD40 on your paintings! I was kind of inspired to do this after looking at some of Van Gogh's still life paintings that he did presumably when weather was bad outside. He would simply paint whatever was in front of him or on the table at the time like food, books, alcohol, pipes, or on the floor like old boots. The background depicts our small kitchen behind a counter, the yellow colour was copied from one of Van Gogh's still lifes, he liked to use a lot of yellow.

Painting Part of the Table, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, April 2024

Pile of Rubbish near Field

After I painted the Chair in a Field of Yellow Buttercups, the chair was moved around and finally fell out of sight for quite some time, probably tossed into the tree line along the fence. Today I rode past and saw this pile of rubbish that seemed tempting to paint, but then again I was looking for blossoming trees or another spring-themes scene. I noticed that the very chair I painted in the field of buttercups was busted up and cast upon the pile of sticks, shovels, tires and other garbage probably put there due to city cleanup. You can see the chair legs pointing up, and the upholstered seating surface on top of the pile. The spring elements include a greenish grass colour and leaf buds on the background trees. I used the red hydrant and shovel handle to break up the green, brown and grey colour scheme. 

Pile of Rubbish near Field, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

Blooming Tree Next Door

With spring well underway the trees are starting to make leaves and some are making blossoms. I painted this tree on the next door neighbor's front lawn, which was not quite as colourful as you see it in the painting, it is shown as it may be in a few days from now if the weather holds. To create a fireworks-like effect, I left in plenty of white space interspersed with flecks of red, green, and a variety of pink shades. The tree over top provides an essential dark contrast, and the shadowed buildings across the street make the pinks pop out. Over the years I have learned that a painting is essentially a sum of its parts, that each component contributes to an overall effect and feeling. I paint these on location, which also provides a feeling. Although I felt lousy today from the blood pressure pills, at least with the sun shining and the nice spring colours it was a reprieve of sorts.

Blooming Tree Next Door, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

Rustic Scenes near the Highway

There was an article on Belmont Park in the news today, it used to be an amusement park up until the 1980's when it was dismantled and became a standard park by the river. Located up on the North shore in Ahuntsic, the park still hosts an annual fair with rides by the looks of the pictures on Google Maps. It also appears to have great views of the bridges over the Prairie river which gave me a reason to ride my bike up there. About halfway I was tired and saw some interesting rustic buildings just north of the Autoroute 40, which you can see in the background. One day these old structures will be cleared for condo developments.

Rustic Buildings, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

Around the side of the rustic structures is a vast pebble field with patches of tall grass. The city has blocked development here for some time, the idea was to build a massive sprawling shopping and condo development. The main issue was the congested autoroute 40 which would be made worse with a large development here. Its hard to describe the vastness of the space, this view is looking West with the autoroute in the background. It was very windy and cold when I did this painting.

Pebble Field, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

A rickety old retail space runs along the La Croix road, in the background is the brick wall surrounding a large cemetery. The scene had a wide variety of yellow and green shades, made with combinations of yellow ochre (PY43), orange (PY110), green (PG36), dark green (PBk31) and some brown (PBr7). To capture the building and all its detail I made a fairly accurate outline first with a small synthetic brush I got from Kama pigments last year. There was no indication as to what GBS stood for by the way, one can imagine a lot of possibilities.

GBS, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

Grocer and Gas Station Rainy Day

If you are just seeing my blog, then I should mention that I tend to paint almost every day and often bring my paint bag with me to work and back. Some days I can't get the time or I am too tired to paint, but usually I can find some scene or another on the way to or from work, or on a lunch hour. This one shows the grocery store across the street in the background which has a colourful mural, and in the foreground is the front of the auto shop where there is a gas station. The gas station sign was red and green, the prices actually were quite high almost $1.90 per liter! Lucky I don't have a car, although the high prices affect everything including the grocery store prices. It started to rain when I was painting this one, so I had to finish it rather quickly and touch it up a  bit at home. Tomorrow calls for a sunny, cool windy day which should be alright for painting. 

Grocer and Gas Station Rainy Day, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

Gas Station with Mountain View

 Up on a berm there are several views such as the odd green and blue building, and this view of the distant mountain with gas station. Most landscape painters would want to paint the mountain view without all the clutter, and so would I to be honest, but somehow its the clutter that makes the scene unique. Parked cars, trees, the gas station, and a construction crane not to mention a lot of traffic and noise. They are actually building a huge 5 story condo block down here on st Jacques right next to all the industry which seems wrong for a lot of reasons. When painting a busy scene such as this, it is important to include a few decisive brush strokes like the mountain, the red roof of the gas station, and the Van Gogh dark pine tree in the lower left.

Gas Station Mountain View, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

World Inspired Landscapes: Montenegro

Montenegro is next to the other Balkan countries, much of its west borders on the Adriatic Sea. Other than its neighbor Serbia, I have painted pictures of the other countries in the region such as Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Greece. A history of Montenegro would no doubt fill many volumes, it has undergone many sweeping changes since history was recorded. In the bronze age they were populated by the Illyria, a vast tribal group on even footing with the Romans and Greeks. Over time, the Slavs conquered the region and absorbed the indigenous people to create the foundation of modern day Montenegro. After a long succession of civil wars between rival kingdoms, Montenegro was independent for some time until being incorporated to a kingdom of Yugoslavia, that became a socialist (Italian) state, then part of the soviet-aligned Yugoslavia that mostly dissolved in the early 1990's. After all this, Montenegro was ruled by one person continually until 2023 when it elected a pro-western leader. Speaking of diversity, they have one of the most biodiverse countries in Europe with many different types of biomes. I went with an overhead view of a lily pond showing fronds, flowers and a turtle, with an impressionistic water treatment. I suppose this painting could represent many countries, but I kind of liked how the diverse history and biodiversity was reflected in the lively, almost poetic composition. Of course I had Monet in mind too, he was after all the master of the water lily paintings.  

World Inspired Landscapes: Montenegro, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2024

Catherine Booth Hospital Silhouette

There is a saying in English "easier said than done" which could also apply to some painting subjects. In this case, the sprawling Catherine Booth Hospital nearby our house was backlit by the sun as usual. A little bit ominous, scary even, the hospital is built from red bricks and solid stone inlays. I've always wanted to paint the scene, but the scope of the structure and the fact that it is almost always back lit make it a difficult painting subject. After 35 years of painting experience, I know what can go wrong in a painting like this, for example, the brick colour has to be dark but still high chroma. Its tempting to add blue or black to burnt sienna but that will make the product dull and unappealing. Instead, I mixed red ochre (PR101), perylene maroon (PR179) and quinacridone purple (PV55). Where the bricks are even darker I dabbed in phthalo green (PG7). For the yellow-grey stone, the mixture was similar but with more green and a touch of yellow mixed in. Composition wise, a back lit scene will usually be bland because its all in shadow, so I emphasized the orange light over the front door, and made the windows greenish for some colour contrast. I still want to do a larger version to capture the full impact of the hospital, even at dusk or night would be neat. With the weather improving I should be able to increase the scale and detail of the paintings as compared to winter. 

Catherine Booth Hospital Silhouette, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

Painting Tree Blossoms

 

Painting tree blossoms is one of the brief joys of location paintings that only comes around once per year for a week at most. The extent of it varies depending on weather conditions, for example in the last few years the blossoms were ruined by strong wind and rain. With a string of warm sunny days ahead we may be in for a treat. This tree was down in Parc Jean Drapeau on ile Notre Dame where they have a race track. When its not being used for car racing, the track is open to local traffic, but most popular with the 'spandex people'. The spandex people have bikes worth thousands and thousands of dollars that only weigh a few grams, and their legs are bigger than the average torso. Pedaling for all my worth, I felt like a pylon as the spandex people zipped around me effortlessly. But how many of them could have pulled over and made a watercolour painting? 

This tree caught my eye, the blossoms were very small, just little points of pink-cream set against a grey, brown and green background. The painting embellishes quite a bit, this is what the tree will look like a few days from now. A ground hog went by and stopped just long enough for me to get the form in, you see it at the base of the tree. I did a second one on location to try a different technique involving wet-in-wet, which gave a softer look. I will try and get out to paint blossoms again, there are some more great ones down in the Lachine park peninsula, and a few right here in our neighborhood. Since there is no white paint in watercolour, painting tree blossoms is perhaps one of the highest technical difficulties there is. They are very delicate, which demands intricate brushwork, but its easy to over work the effect. Van Gogh famously painted tree blossoms in southern France, it was the first series of paintings he made on his penultimate journey south. 

Early Tree Blossoms, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2024

Ride to Parc Jean Drapeau

 

There were a couple geese here but only one stuck around long enough to make it into the painting. The scene is from the south canal berm which has a wide bike path and bird reserve area. There were lots of small songbirds there, and plenty of insects that covered my clothing as I rode down toward Parc Jean Drapeau.

Goose with a View, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

 

Behind st Helen's island is a section  of the river called Monk's channel in French its Chenal le Moyne which I found out on Google maps. The water back there is an incredible blue-green that is even more impressive when the sun is shining. As the water passes under the bridge it churns up creating a range of greenish yellow, blue and pale violet. It was about to rain so I headed home after this one.

Chenal le Moyne with Cartier Bridge, watercolour 9 x 10" cold press, April 2024

 

This monolithic structure is the Montreal Casino on Ile Notre Dame, a small island attached to st Helen's island. Its funny that with all the religious symbolism of the names of everything around here, they still built a casino, a mecca of vice so to speak. Rumor has it the Casino operators are looking to rebuild it elsewhere. I went there once and lost $20 on slot machines, then just got a few beers, they had an incredible Trois Pistols on tap which was far more worth it, although maybe they should have been serving Mon Dieu instead.

Casino Montreal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024

Still Plugged In

Here I am catching up on some blogging on a rainy day. Luckily tomorrow's forecast is sunny and I should be able to get down to the river for some painting. I did this abstract on the horizontal but kind of liked it better on the vertical like this. The blue on the top is cobalt blue (PB28), its a colour that I took off my palette a long time ago, but I still have some left in some old tubes. The bright yellow is vanadium yellow (PY184) which is extremely opaque basically a type of gauche in the way it handles. My current lab book #25 is almost full of doodles and I think its going to be good for at least two doodle paintings. This abstract was a test to see if I can use these paints in a larger doodle work. I think that it will work, the colours are bright and work well together with the blue, yellow and red-magenta giving a range of mixtures. No pigment is truly magenta by the way, despite the names the company gives. The only thing that is technically magenta based on hue angle is carbazol violet and you would call it purple if you saw it. PR122 is the closest to the idea of magenta, it is about half way between red and magenta and has a really high value (bright looking). Some companies add artificial brightener agents though (aluminum hydrate for example) so its hard to tell what you are buying some times.    

Still Plugged In, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, April 2024

Ancestral Colours

I was walking to work the other day and noticed a shimmering oil slick on top of a freshly paved road that had been rained upon. At the right angle there was a rainbow's worth of colours visible on the black asphalt. Its not an accident or anything, just the tar leaching out of the road...asphalt is derived from petro chemicals after all. It makes you wonder what we inhale and get from these toxic roadways? There is an interesting connection between the colours on the wet road and the history of art pigments. As far back as the 19th century the pigment makers knew about coal-tar pigments, the first one was a dark red magenta, similar to the colour you see in the upper left of the abstract painting. The initial pigments were unstable and unpleasant, but after enough time the chemistry was optimized and by 1960's onwards the coal tar pigments would basically replace most other pigments in the yellow to magenta range. 

For the painting I was trying to use up some tubes that I don't use for anything else. The charcoal colour is a grey mix (PV19 + PG7 + PBk6), the yellow is vanadium yellow (PY184), the magenta is PV19, the red and orange are from pyrol red (PR254). I splashed in some green (PG36) to complete the charcoal rainbow effect.
 

Ancestral Colours, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, April 2024