Loud booms echoing from some distant point signified fireworks. In retrospect, this was the Block Buster fire works by Blue Star Pyrotechnics as part of the International fireworks festival. A few colourful blooms of green, yellow or red explosions could be seen over the Montreal skyline from this vantage point near the Glen Hospital bike path. The street goes down from here into st Henri, and the autoroute 20 crosses over going east/west. To paint the firework explosion over the skyline, a sky was first applied with a mix of indo blue (PB60) and pyrol orange (PO73) heavy on the orange, and fading downwards with raw sienna making sure to keep a strong middle value. While moist, the greenish wash was applied so as to create a blossoming back-wash at the edge of the firework. As it dried, dabs of pure green (PG36) and yellow (PY184) were applied. The city consisted of a series of dark brown and grey grids with orange-yellow windows daubed in with a small #2 brush. The rest of the painting was a matter of hanging in there, and keeping as many small points of light open as possible. It was a daunting scene to do on location and took quite some time, but well worth the effort. This one will be on my year end list for sure!
Fireworks over Montreal, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, July 2025
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