Writing on the City, graffiti alley

A back alley that runs parallel between st Laurent and Clark in the Mile End has been designated a graffiti alley. At least, for most of the structures because I did see a few buildings like the bank that removed all the graffiti from the laneway. Every available surface has been marked up with paint, pens, paste-ups (thin sheets of art glued to wall) and wood-ups (art on wood fixed to wall). I even notice a wood-up similar in style to the one I say at the Independant building likely done by the same artist. In this painting, I depicted a wide array of graffiti along with a trash bin that practically melts into the background. 

Trash bin graffiti wall, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, October 2025

It was a very quiet place to paint with few people around, on the weekends the tourists come here to see the graffiti and take selfies. Almost all of the graffiti said PJD25 which coincidentally, is my initials and the year! Actually, I just try to copy the style of the graffiti, but usually I can't read the letters so I use my own. Plus, I get a bit of the exhileration that the writers must feel. Writer is the street term for a graffiti artist.  

Graffiti alley yellow tree, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, October 2025

If you want to practice brush work and detail, try painting pictures of graffiti on walls. If you look back to the first painting, the graffiti had been over-painted many times, and the wall textures had to come through. They also use shiny silver paint which needs a specific effect. In the above painting, there were faded letters on the brick from where the original sign used to be (STORAGE) with additional text. Somone named Cilei wrote her name at the top, and that pesky PJD guy wrote his initials at the bottom. 

Cilei + PJD, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, October 2025

With the last of the sunlight I caught this scene of a yellow tree, the old warehouse, and the upper wall of the st Laurent underpass. Of course, the writers had done their work, including CRD! in Brazillian yellow-green and blue colours, with PJD25 in red white and black. I don't need to sign the painting when it looks like this. Perhaps its too incriminating through? 

Writing on the underpass, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, October 2025