With gloomy weather you start to wonder, when is summer starting? Soon enough we will be complaining about the heat. On overcast days, its best to seek out strong value contrasts since the colours tend to be dull and muted, and there is a general lack of cast shadows. As this woman walked by across the street from the Maisonneuve bike path, her clothing, which appears to be a Thawb, was shimmering white and complementing the cherry tree blossoms in the background. A dark rich green shrubbery and red bricks provided the framing of the scene. Usually I don't paint people because they move, indeed, the woman had long passed when I got around to including the figure, so I had to memorize the shape and values. I see that I forgot to initial this one.
Woman under tree blossoms, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2025
Turning to the other direction towards the train tracks, I tackled this complicated scene of the fence, a post with sign, plenty of foliage, and the commuter train in the middle. I had to paint the train from memory, by now, I've painted it enough to know the general shapes, colours and patterns. As I painted this one, I thought of it more like an abstract painting since there was so much going on with the foliage, fence and train. Somehow it worked out well enough. A fellow stopped and talked to me for awhile, he warned me about the poison ivy in the area, and said he was an acrylic painter. He also said he was resistant to poison ivy, like he can rub it on his face and nothing happens. Some scientist should study the guy and get the cure to poison ivy like they did recently with the snake venom guy. Its amazing what you learn on location.
Train and foliage, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2025
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