Pink sun setting

The final act of today's setting sun was for the pink orb to drop behind a dusty blue haze. Its the first time I've seen such a colour on location, I mixed it using purple magenta (PR122) with pyrol red (PR254). The rest of the colours were difficult to judge, and even more difficult to paint. Trees and buildings were about 20% reduced chroma (intensity) and a value lighter than normal due to the forest fire haze that enveloped Montreal. Car headlights shone through from the Decarie highway below. In the previous blog, I suggested that fossil fuels used in construction and cars was the cause of global warming, hence the forest fires, but lets not forget that paint pigments used in watercolour paint, including purple magenta and pyrol red are made from petro-chemical distillates. The irony is rich. But I do feel for the people, many indigenous, who live close to the areas that are on on fire, and sincerely hope we can all find some solution to stop the worrying trend. I'd rather not ever have the opportunity to paint such scenes again in my lifetime. 

Pink sun setting, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025