Around the bend and under the bridge

This elevated highway bends across the peel basin into downtown Montreal. A utility building had an interesting curved shadow from the highway which I painted with a mix of deep scarlet (PR175), pyrol orange (PO73) and some burnt umber (PBr7). After doing the outlines in paint I filled in the shadow and the painting looked pretty funny, with just a dark red/brown shadow and nothing else, but as the rest of the details filled in the scene came to life. It has a kind of retro, Edward Hopper feel to it.

Shadow of elevated highway, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, September 2024

Behind the highway is the towering "new" malt factory, its not new in that sense but I've written before about the old malt factory that is beside the canal. This one is fully functional, supplying malted barley to the Molson Brewery, its located on the peel basin at the end of the Lachine canal. The red brick utility building is down on the bottom right, and my initials are graffiti under the bridge.

Malt factory and highway, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, September 2024

Speaking of under the bridge, here is a fascinating view of the water control dam that keeps the entire peel basin and Lachine canal full. In the winter they drain the basin and canal by opening these huge gates. It was a difficult painting to conceive of, I had to make a detailed outline in paint, then fill it block by block. the waterfall effect was also tricky, I used similar techniques as last weeks water cascade painting. In the upper right is a piece of the elevated highway, in the background is the peel basin and the majestic condos, while the foreground shows the mossy, muddy bottom of the water channel.

End of the peel basin, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, September 2024