World Inspired Landscapes: Nauru

Nauru is another one of those countries for the geography buff. Here's a hint, it is near Kiribati! It's near Tuvalu ? North east of the Solomon Islands? Okay, its somewhere in the south Pacific way north of Australia. Unlike many of the island nations, Nauru is essentially one potato-shaped island, not that you could easily grow potatoes there because there is very little arable soil especially after the industrial era plundering at the hands of the British Empire. What the country had a lot of was phosphate rock likely from eons of sea bird droppings, which could be converted into fertilizer and animal feed back in the United Kingdom. By the 1990's the phosphate rocks were depleted, leaving nearly half of the island uninhabitable. In the painting you see the rock-pillar formations that were the result of cutting phosphate rock from the land, which led to sand erosion. Indigenous peoples still live there, thousands of years and counting, surviving on fishing and a close relationship with Australia. 

The painting is a fairly standard birds-eye view, maybe the bird is looking for somewhere to drop some guano? I liked the contrast that the rock formations created with the swooping S shape of the beach and the otherwise pastel colour scheme. There seems to be endless ways to paint island scenes that include sea, beach and green foliage. 

World Inspired Landscapes: Nauru, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, June 2024

Pleasant bike ride home along the canal path

The weather was pleasant enough after the threat of rain, making for a good opportunity to do some painting on the holiday day. These two pine trees are at the end of a long row of pine trees that are near the st Lawrence river. Painting bark is an interesting challenge, the base bark colour is pale beige with a red-orange tint, but the chroma is so low that it reflects blue light from the sky. Where the bark flakes off it creates a secondary whitish colour. Pine trees are also knobby as compared to hardwood. 

Two pine trees near river, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

 

Where the old train track ran there is now a hill covered in flowers and grass. At night there are hundreds of mosquitos too, but it was too early for that. This is a concrete factory, still active it feeds a stream of trucks from a series of ramps and pumps. It was an ominous scene, with the X shape of the old railroad crossing sign. The tracks run all the way through Lachine, but they are not usable anymore.

Factory flower field, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

 

For what used to be a lake bed, they sure built it up with canals, highways and factories. These overpasses are highway 138 connecting to the Mercier bridge, which would be leftwards. Of course, the bike path and canal are in the foreground. The highway colour is mostly red ochre with indo blue (PR101 + PB60) and some carbon black (PBk6) done with an economy of brush strokes. The sun effect on top was just lucky, I thought it would blend smoothly, but I like the way it dried. It was kind of a rough outing and not all the paintings worked, but these ones were quite nice. The pastel touches on the canal water recall impressionism.  

Highway over Canal Setting Sun, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

Red Winged Blackbird st Lawrence River

As the weather cleared this afternoon I was able to get out on the bike and make a series of paintings. This scene of a red winged blackbird near the st Lawrence river was done down in the sculpture park near Lachine. Across the river is the reserve. Sun was shining just off to the right which created quite a glare off the water. The birds were very noisy, they must be constantly agitated by all the pedestrians and cyclists using the trail that goes around the circumference of the park. To paint the glare, I drag the semi-moist brush on its side across the paper, but its difficult on this brand of paper which is very flat. The closer to the shore, the water appears brownish because you can see to the bottom. The painting was a little bland until I painted in the bird from memory, then everything really popped. I will post the other ones tomorrow.

Red Winged Blackbird, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

Painting around town rainy day

Getting out for a quick ride yesterday was difficult with the rainy condition but I found an hour in the late afternoon. Down at the Reno Depot parking lot you have the best location to paint puddles. In the background is the nursery area where they sell bags of soil and plants.

Reno depot puddle in parking lot, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

 

This yellow dépanneur on Sherbrooke makes for a nice contrast with stormy skies. The clouds were done with a purple mix (PB60 + PV55 + PR179) and a touch of carbon black (PBk6) to flatten it out. Some daubs of blue (PB15) give a sense of impending rain. I painted this scene once before when waiting for vegetables on a snowy night.

Yellow dépanneur stormy sky, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

 

Since the weather was holding I made one more quick study of pylons in light and shadow. The foreground had a layer of dark blue (PB60 + PBk6), but that cut the chroma too much on the pylon. The high chroma pylon in the middle is more on point, its layered with magenta, neon orange and purplish grey. The brown chunks are new 'planter' areas they have been installing on corners... soon it will be growing weeds.

Pylons light and shadow, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

Festival of Colours DJ Colombia

After a series of paintings from the vantage point of the boardwalk, I could not resist seeking out the source of the loud DJ music that was playing on loudspeakers. It was coming from a stage down near the river, a large sign said Festival of Colours, and indeed a lot of people were raving out in an enclosed area in front of this stage. I set up outside of the event, just able to see the action through the fences. People were going in and out, all covered in colours, splattered from head to toe. In the writhing mass, people were throwing up powdered colours into the air, red, magenta, blue, green, you name it. The DJ announced that his group was from Colombia and said in broken french that he was happy to be in Montreal. The combination of the colours, the crowds, the rave music and the pungent odor of weed wafting over the event sure made for an exciting moment. People were looking at my painting as I did and said it was cool. I tried a painting like this many years ago from memory, but this one done on location really captures the moment!

Festival of Colours DJ Colombia, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, June 2024

Train Cars and Bridge, Molson Brewery

Last time I was here is was a rainy day, which made for some difficult painting. Today the weather was hot and humid, otherwise pleasant for painting outside, just the blood pressure medication side effects really kicked in here and it was quite difficult to stand up. Undaunted I pressed on, trying to focus on the scene which helped take my mind off it. The painting is built up with  series of triangular washes, I could tell with just the washes that it would be a pretty special painting. As the paint dried I continued with successive layers of detail and textural elements. A lot of artists say that warm colours should go in the foreground, but here I use a nice green on the first train car, and made the gravel bed bluer in the foreground. Putting warmth in the center of the painting tends to draw the eye in. The bridge and details around it including Molson factory (left), and the new port (distance) were done with an economy of brush strokes. I think you get the best parts of this moment from looking at the painting.

Train Cars and Bridge, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, June 2024

Views of st Lawrence river from Old Montreal

On a hot and humid Saturday afternoon I made it out to Old Montreal via the Maisonneuve bike path which is about a straight line from NDG to down down. With a little zig zagging through the down town core that is, due to all the construction. This scene shows the old clock tower and modern beach with the blue umbrellas. The beach of course is entirely artificial, set high up behind a concrete retainer wall and fence it stretches all around the marina.

Clock Tower and Beach, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

Initially I took a wrong turn and found myself at the end of a viewing platform. There was a sliver of the river visible between these two condos. On the left its a renovated factory, on the right its a modern glass and steel building.

Condos and a Sliver of the River, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

Across the river there is the EXPO 67 dome, which you see in the background of the painting. The foreground is the marina and spit of land that has a park and a picnic area with some festival area. The whole time I was painting someone was yelling 'fait du bruit' on a loudspeaker which means make some noise in french. Then a DJ started playing loud house music, like a rave. It was a good groove to paint to.

Dome Beach and Boats, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

Construction on Harley street

On the usual walk to the Bakery to get my favorite loaf of bread and turkey sandwich for lunch, I was surprised by the complete lack of a sidewalk. A long line of construction vehicles were tearing it all up and redoing the water mains or something like that. At any rate, the Bakery was still accessible, you see it behind the trucks, and the opposite sidewalk was clear. To make the brick colour, I mixed yellow ochre with a touch of orange (PY43 + PO62), while the construction digger is deep yellow (PY110). I used straight red-orange (PO73) for the pylons.  

Construction on Harley street, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

Blood Orange Sunset over Autoshop

As the sun set, it became cool enough to enjoy doing a quick painting, until the mosquitos had the exact same idea. Well, they were after the painter not the painting! Hence the name of the painting, blood orange sunset, with the blood being my blood and the orange being the colour of my hair back in the day. At any rate, the painting turned out all right considering that it was done in quite a hurry to avoid the pesky insects. The sky is a blend of orange (PO62), magenta (PR122) and blue (PB15) and some red-orange (PO73). To make things appear to glow, it is important to set them against a greyish and dull surrounding, for example the brick colour really sets off the sky, and the grey building gives those fluorescent lamps their ethereal glow.

Blood Orange Sunset over Autoshop, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

Souvlaki George

Souvlaki George is a restaurant close to campus on Sherbrooke street, I have painted it a few times before during winter. Today it was once again very hot and humid but after all day in the over-air-conditioned office I was feeling good for awhile in the heat. To start a painting like this I make the center line and roof line, making sure the center line is perpendicular to the edge of the paper and the roof line has the correct perspective. There are no tricks, just eyeball it and freehand. Its a two point perspective, with vanishing lines off the picture plane to the right and left. The rest of the painting is a puzzle of different colours values and textures.

Souvlaki George Panorama, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

Here is a closeup of the facade with the statue. In real life the statue was making an elegant, classical Greek pose, but somehow in the painting it looks like she is playing mini putt golf. I liked the play between the cream-coloured bricks and the blue highlights. Obviously it is meant to be a Mediterranean colour-scheme considering that it is a Greek-themed restaurant. Greek food involves kebab, pita wraps, tomato salads, olive oil, rice, potato and french fries. And that's all on one plate, with a coke on the side.

Souvlaki George Closeup, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

Hot day, Yellow bins discarded fruit

The story of the day was just how hot it was, with a base temperature of around 35℃, that's 95℉, with plenty of humidity so it feels like over 40℃ ! Since my office is so cold, it was actually kind of a relief to warm up on my way to Snowdon Bakery to pick up some lunch. What better way to capture the sense of heat than to paint these sulfur-yellow waste bins under a stark blue sky. The bins were full of discarded fruit, there were strawberries strewn about the ground. Pairing yellow and blue like this was something I learned from Van Gogh who discovered the colour scheme when painting in the blazing hot south of France. For me its a continuation of the garbage bin motif, but the other reason was I could stand in the shade of City Fruterie. If you look carefully in the top left you can see the top of the commuter train that was whipping by. 

Yellow bins discarded fruit, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

Excitement in the shopping mall parking lot

 

In the Lasalle shopping mall parking lot, a small circus tent was set up and entertaining audiences within. I could hear the circus music and ohhs and ahhs from the crowd, they were enjoying it. It seemed like a Cirque du Soleil thing, but upon further research I found out that this is a small circus from Paris that travels the world. The painting was a multi-layered effort, so I did another painting while the first layer dried.

Cirque Paris Tent, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

 

The first painting shows the idealized view, this one shows the actual view. Often I edit out all the clutter, but in this case it seemed to be interesting to include it in the foreground, and show the background elements on a landscape format. Its more of a drawing exercise, but still meant to look like a painting, done with paint of course, no pen or pencil.

Cirque Paris Vehicles and Tent, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

 

There is a row of tall trees growing in front of the mall. Probably planted a long time ago for decoration, these trees get full sun and seem to be thriving, a literal sliver of a forest. Passing them dozens of times I finally stopped to make a painting. The scene in its entirety is quite spectacular, it would require a long narrow format to capture.

Two trees in front of mall, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

 

Seagulls were perched on top of the mall, and you can see a few of the trees that grow in front. The bricks of the mall are a pale sun-bleached raw sienna, with strips of yellow ochre brick. Mixing in some purple (PV55 + PB60) gives those flat pastel grey tones.

Gulls, Trees shopping mall, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

A few more Scenes from Park Angrignon

We had a get together for the laboratory people today to celebrate some recent graduates and enjoy  the sunny cool weather. This was done before everyone arrived as I was guarding the picnic tables, it shows the pond surrounded by trees, and a few ducks and a heron dabbed in from memory. This is the time of year I go through yellow and green paint really fast, after barely touching it all winter.

Park Angrignon Panorama, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

 

Looking across the park I could see a number of really colourful picnic tables scattered around. They were not quite as organized as you see in the painting, but the idea was to create an abstract arrangement to feature the motif, and use some colours at full strength.

Colourful Picnic benches, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

Rooftops ville st Henri

Ville st Henri is a quiet blue collar neighborhood located along the Lachine canal and next to the highway 720. Architecturally the neighborhood is an eclectic mix of mid 19th century red brick buildings, mixed in with post WWII 1950's wood and shingle houses. Throughout, you see all manner of renovations spanning the decades, including brand new constructions. In this scene, a small parking lot anchors the composition along with a prominent phone pole in the foreground that acts as a backbone. Getting the colour right on the phone pole was important, it is a dark neutral chartreuse made with some combination of yellow (PY154), a touch of green (PG36, PBk31) and carbon black (PBk6). In contrast, the bright green of the spires and variations of turquoise are much higher chroma. Here and there, red brick buildings provide some additional value contrast, along with a scintillating blue sky inspired by Van Gogh's southern France paintings. Looking at it now I must of forgot to sign it, or did I ?

Rooftops ville st Henri, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, June 2024

Old factory vacant lot, ville st Henri

In the background you see part of the famous old Canada Malt Factory, a derelict relic waiting to be razed and turned into condos. In the foreground, some old structures were cleared out leaving a vacant lot, one can only wonder if it too will become condos. When objects are back lit (the sun is behind them) they are entirely enveloped in shadow. It takes skill to paint this effect, with watercolour the tendency is to paint it too pale. Watercolours dry about a shade lighter, in particular with dark paints. The key is to keep the mixes simple and apply the paint in one clean wash without fussing or applying more layers. In doing so, I could create the intense warm brick colours, paired with the cool yellowish cinder-block wall and textured beige vacant lot. To cut through all the brown and grey I included two white cars in full highlight, and a gem-like blue sky. Using dark elements, like the flashing on top of the wall also helps make the grey colours seem to glow. To make the graffiti I applied blobs of water when the wash was still moist, blotted a little, then painted the graffiti over it when dry.

Old factory vacant lot, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, June 2024

Nice breezy warm day for painting in Ville st Henri

Ville st Henri is a little neighborhood stuck between Point st Charles and Verdun, it lies on the north side of the Lachine canal. Most of the time I am riding through it to get to the canal but have made quite a few paintings there over the years. It is a mix of industrial blue collar with a slow gentrification occurring. The side of this house had crumbling plaster walls painted over with white. Incongruously, a motor boat was parked next to the building. People were hanging their clothes on it, but I omitted that detail from the painting. Doing this one reminded me a lot of painting in Spain, with the white plaster, blue sky and warm temperatures. 

Ville st Henri boat, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

The first painting had a cool colour scheme with blue, green, white, and grey, this one had a warm colour scheme with earthy oranges and cream-siding. I was standing on a wide pedestrian alley, it has benches and walking paths with good tree cover for about a kilometer going through the neighborhood. The path starts at park Gadbois and ends about at the Metro station I like to call Oscar Peterson. The neat thing about painting fences like this is that the wood stain used the same pigments that I have on my palette. In this case it was a mix of yellow ochre (PY43) and burnt umber (PBr7) and touches of burnt ochre (PR101).
 

Flowering shrubs and vines on fence, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

 

Along the main drag if you can call it that, many old houses still stand. This one looked freshly renovated, it had a light beige siding with chocolate coloured trim. The whole street was lines with these trees, they were making pale yellow flowers that smelled a bit like lilac even though they were clearly not lilac trees.

Tiramisu House, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

 

A long, covered alley was plastered with graffiti. At the end of the tunnel there was some bright yellow and green foliage. Right in the middle of the passage there is a gap in the structures, which let in a piercing beam of light. I almost didn't paint this one, but it was such an unusual challenge I had to try it.

Graffiti Alley, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

 

 

There is a nice field of grass next to the bicycle store, which is tucked away on the left behind the tree leaves. In the background there are a number of buildings including the grocery store parking garage, the top of Home Depot, and some of the downtown sky scrapers. To paint the field I applied a wet-in-wet layer of dark yellow, orange, and olive (PY110 + PBk31), then over painted the grass elements with gusto. I like how the leaves and grass are delicate and lively, you can really get the sense of a breezy day.

Grassy Field near bike shop, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

 

 

 

 

 

Park Angrignon and Area

Catching up on some blogging, here is a painting of the pond by metro Angrignon showing the foliage and some of the birds. They move around a lot making it a challenge to paint them. At least the blue heron stood still for awhile!

Pond near Angrignon Metro, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, June 2024

Metro Angrignon is a complex array of arches with vaulted glass and metal roofs. Bright orange permeates the architecture which contrasts with the blue sky and all of the dull concrete. The orange is just pyrol orange (PO73) no mixing, which scans more red than it appears.

Metro Angrignon Arches, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

Here are some quick sketches of the various birds, the ones in the middle are supposed to be Canada Geese, with a Blue Heron in the background and a Mallard duck in the foreground. With a bit more practice I may be able to paint the ducks properly, they tend to move a lot.

Pond Fowls, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

 

Right next to st Patrick, a busy noisy commuter road to be standing by on Friday after work, I made this painting of the pedestrian and bike bridge over the Lachine canal. This bridge connects the north part of the canal to the south, and leads up Senkus street to park Angrignon, although I am headed in the other direction here. The yellow line was a mix of orange (PO62) and yellow (PY154), while the turquoise railings are phthalo green and blue (PG7, PB15).

Footbridge over Canal close up, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, June 2024

 

 

Emergency Donuts

 

I was down on Sherbrooke on the weekend painting the new donut store when a fire truck stopped and the fire people hopped out to wait in line and get donuts. No there was no fire or anything, but it must have been an emergency donut, or perhaps a donut emergency? In the painting I depicted the firetruck from memory using pyrol red (PR254) which is a very thick and very red paint good for fire hydrants, stop signs and other bright red objects like donuts. Pyrol red is a weird one, it doesn't mix well with anything, and it will quickly muddy up on the palette creating a much duller brownish red. Recently I picked up some quinacridone red (PR209) and might try that on the palette for awhile, it has a higher tinting strength with more blue reflectance. Red is actually not very common when landscape painting, its probably the least used paint on my palette. Its more useful in abstract paintings, like this surrealistic take on donuts and a fire truck.

Emergency Donuts, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, June 2024

Homer's donuts rainy day

To much fanfare a Homer's donuts opened in NDG creating extensive lineups and hype. Today a firetruck even stopped in front and the firepeople jumped out and got some donuts, a real emergency. Standing next to the bus stop in close proximity to the scene, close enough to smell the sprinkles, I made a painting of the storefront as it continued to spit rain on and off. The main intrigue was the pastel palette contrasted against the typical brown and grey background. Finally it was a store sign that I could do justice to, it has big cartoony lettering with blue/yellow and black/white contrast. This is the first painting ever where I ran out of quinacridone magenta (PR122) a hot flamingo pink paint that I use sparsely. It seems like this store is not going to close any time soon judging by the popularity. On the mythical sunny day I would like to go back and have another crack at the scene although I am not a fan of donuts. 

Homer's donuts rainy day, watercolour 8 x 10" 80lb, June 2024

Waiting out the Rain, Villa-Maria station

I barely made it halfway up Girouard avenue when the deluge hit. Luckily they have finally completed the Villa-Maria station so there was a bit of shelter there. Taking the opportunity I made this painting of the bus waiting area as the rain poured down. Last time I painted this station is was a grisly wet winter day and I could only see the construction fence. Now that it is complete maybe I can get back there on a sunny day and do a proper painting of it. 

To paint the wet concrete sidewalk, I applied a graded wash that changed from beige on the bottom to pale blue, then just blank paper. Surrounding it with heavy textured elements completed the illusion. The pillar shadows are added when the paint is still moist to give the soft shimmering look. With a bit of practice this effect can be quite effective, it is similar to what I did with the geraniums on the deck on a rainy day last year.
 

Waiting out the Rain, Villa-Maria station,  watercolour 5 x 7" 80lb, June 2024

 

Here is the insta format (5:4), I copy this into instagram or facebook

 

Trenholme park games before the rain

After making an attempt on this scene last week, I returned just before the rain hit and made a new version. This time I left the triangles as blank paper until the last step in order to get the chroma up to the right spot. The fence is a mix of indo blue (PB60), red ochre (PR101) and carbon black (PBk6). The main reason for stopping here was to assess the weather, since it called for thunderstorms.

Trenholme Park Games, watercolour 5 x 7" 80lb, June 2024

 

There is a full sized gravel croquet pitch in Trenholme park although few people use it. At least it made for some good painting material today, as I waited out the weather situation. After doing this one I headed out for the Canal path, but had to turn back half way there with ominous clouds and cold wind. To do the gravel I started with a semi-moist application of a dark grey tinted with magenta, then dabbed in the shadows as it dried. Finishing with the yellow seed pods and green leaves and the croquet wickets completed the effect.

Croquet Pitch, watercolour 5 x 7" 80lb, June 2024

Industrial Urban

Along the canal there are old warehouse factories that have been converted into living residential spaces. This complex has a large warehouse next to it that appears to be residential condos because I see curtains, plants, and occasionally people sit on patio furniture on the roof. The view I took here is looking east towards downtown. The sun was still shining a bit, although it took forever for the misty sky effect to dry enough. Anchoring the composition is the large chemical drum and piping on the right. A sweeping angle and tree stretches to the left, and the Montreal skyline adorns the background. Its a rather technical painting, each piece had to be painted in the correct order so as to avoid the washes running together. The white brick in shadow is an interesting colour, almost impossible to judge, I made it with a pale greenish mix of PG7, PV55 and PB60. So it ends up being a low chroma high value pastel green. I wanted the industrial elements to be rough and ready, so I used a lot of lamp black (PBk6) and red ochre (PR101) with short, abrupt brush strokes. As usual, my PJD24 scrawl was adapted to one of the graffitis.

Industrial Urban, watercolour 8 x 10" 80lb, June 2024

In between the Rain

Making my way down to the Lachine canal in between the rain, I managed to reel off a number of paintings. This is the classic Lachine canal scene I like to paint once or twice per year, you see the iron gantry crane on the right that used to lift cargo off of boats and drop it onto trains. Long defunct, the crane is now an iconic feature. The footbridge is a pale green hue, easily made with phthalo green (PG7) diluted with a bit extra water.

Gantry Crane and Footbridge, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

With a change in wind and some ominous clouds approaching I made a hasty retreat from the Lachine canal. This scene is between highways, looking east towards downtown Montreal. The bike path runs adjacent to this wide open gravel area. Its not clear what they plan to do with it, perhaps just leave as is. Sparse grass and shrubs are growing in and around the flats. Historically this was the bottom of a lake before they drained it to make the canal, and dredged the rapids to allow boats to pass.

Between Highways, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

Up on the NDG escarpment they built a walking and cycling trail which you see in the background of this painting. I was drawn to the violet and magenta flowers, they were very high chroma. To mix the colours, I used quinacridone magenta (PR122) with some of my new quinacridone red (PR209) and phthalo blue sapphire (PB15). Too bad I didn't have the carbazol violet (PV23) or ultramarine (PB29) with me, they are quite intense and would have been good for this scene, but they are not very useful colours overall. Having PR122 on the palette unlocks a lot of the magenta colours you see in flowers, peoples clothings, and some signs.

Violet and Magenta Flowers, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2024

New Esso Red Roof

This gas station used to have a blue top with an eagle, now it is a red Esso branded station. With impending rain I took a moment to paint this on the way home from work yesterday. The main excitement was the brilliant red bonnet, which was done with ferrari red (PR254) and perylene maroon (PR179) for the shadow element. The rest of the painting was daubed in shades of brown, grey, green and blue which made the red bonnet pop even more. Some interesting lines on the pavement held the foreground. It turned out more realistic than it looked when I was painting it, I think the lights give it a good sense of atmosphere. 

New Esso Red Roof, watercolour 5 x 7" 80lb, June 2024

Coffee Park and Commuter Train

Coffee Park is one of those locations I keep returning to paint, mostly because its on the way to the local grocer and bakery down on Harley Street. There always seems to be an interesting scene, like this one of the commuter train going past in the sunlight while I sat in the shade. A light standard and waste bin line the walking path that cuts through the park. About half the park is being paved over now with public buildings, a basketball court and a water park. Even the park near our house, behind the sports complex, recently put a tall fence around the baseball diamond effectively cutting off the whole green space access. To paint the scene, I applied a cool grey wash to the foreground area, leaving the background as blank paper. As the details filled in, the train went by and I could fill in its outline and general colour scheme. The cool grey block in the foreground gives the contrast that makes the background really glow. 

Coffee Park and Commuter Train, watercolour 5 x 7" 80lb, June 2024

Sir Winston Churchill Pub at Night

Riding home after the convocation got me thinking about flags. At the ceremony, some students were trying to bring Palestinian flags on stage but the security was confiscating the flags. However, the students figured out a way to hide the flags in their clothing and then out popped the flags as they crossed the stage. With about a dozen students pulling the stunt, the flummoxed administration was trying handle it the best they could. After crossing the stage, the students were being given a choice to put down the flag and get their picture taken with the Dean, or keep the flag and have their picture taken without the Dean. The administration had to stay neutral on the issue, at the same time allowing the students to make their statement. The flag in this painting reminded me of the black and white patterned cloth shawls that the students with the flags were wearing over top of their gowns, although this black and white flag as you may recognize is the F1 flag. As Montreal prepares for Jazz Fest (and holds drama-filled convocation ceremonies), it is also getting ready for the big F1 weekend when we get to hear motors roaring off in the distance and my favorite bike ride to st Helen's island is blocked off for a few weeks. 

To do the painting, it was a grind because it was late and I was hot and exhausted but thought, if I ride by this scene, the opportunity will never come up a again. The flag connection was also a conversation starter for this blog. I started with the sky, a pale wash of pyrol orange (PO73) and indo blue (PB60), which was overlaid with a darker wash of primarily indo blue and a tiny streak of black (PBk6) at the top. The rest of the painting was a tapestry of grey, brown, dark red and greenish hues. You have to commit to a painting like this, during the paint it will look terrible until the final value block is filled in, which in this case was the middle office tower. Then the illusion is complete and the scene comes alive. 
 

Sir Winston Churchill Pub at Night, watercolour 5 x 7" 80lb, June 2024

Place des Arts Sundown

Just before the convocation started I made this painting of Place des Arts (building on left edge of painting), with a view down the festival area. They were getting it prepared for Jazz Fest by installing overhead lights, fences and stages. As the sun was going down, long shadows were being cast by the buildings with slivers of light. When painting light/shadow alternations, it is important to control both the value and hue, the highlights being a warm light beige, and the shadows being cooler blueish middle grey. The tops of the buildings and trees also tend to catch the last light. 

Place des Arts Sundown, watercolour 5 x 7" 80lb, June 2024

Spirit Birds?

This is about the strangest location painting you will see, its done standing just outside the back door looking straight up at the condo. It was a mundane scene until two birds soared silently up in the sky, illuminated from the city lights below. One window had its lights on, which suggests the only light source. On the condo wall you see the massive vine covering a good portion of the building, and there is a tree off to the left of the scene, almost black against the maroon and blue sky. The sky colour is a mix of pyrol orange (PO73) and indo blue (PB60), with increasing amounts of the blue towards the top of the picture. The stars and birds are created with careful brush work (I picked up a new Holbein #6 at the art shop last weekend). The clincher is the condo itself and the column of beige brick, and windows, that lead the eye upwards and produces the illusion of looking upwards. To get the perspective correct I held the brush up and used it to judge the angles. Finally, I had a head lamp on to be able to judge the colours and values correctly. Did I imagine these birds? Was it a dream? or did I really see two spirit birds fly by on this night?

Spirit Birds? watercolour 5 x 7" 80lb, June 2024