Gum Drop Tornado and Pineapple Hypnotism

 

Ready for a rebrand, Cilei and I looked through a list of names of abstract paintings I had done over the years and picked out a few that sounded catchy like cactopus, lemon sunset, the blue house, la parapluie rouge, and many more. While catchy, those names were already taken by bands and organizations. Finally, Gum Drop Tornado came up empty on a google search, no Facebook page, no Instagram tag, and no mention of it to be found, until now! The main thing was to have a catchy and original moniker that makes people curious. The painting done in 2012 was a surrealist scene of a field of grass inundated with a psychedelic display from above. I actually named the painting last year when making my art catalogue. So I will try this re-brand for awhile across the platforms and blogger.

Gum Drop Tornado, 6.5 x 6.5",  cold press watercolour, 2012 (No. 1581)

This name was also totally original, no signs of pineapple hypnotism on the internet. You are feeling sleepy. Look into my eyes. Imagine pineapples swirling into a colourful vortex. I dig this painting. What were you smoking? Dude, where's my car?

Pineapple Hypnotism 8 x 12", cold press watercolour, 2012 (No. 1372b)

  

Japan Paintings Final Batch from 2006

Going through some old backup disks I found a folder containing photos taken in the year 2007 of selected paintings. Some of them were earlier than 2007 like the ones of the Yangtze River, but most had been done around the time like 2006's Japan paintings. On the web version you can use tags to see all the Japan paintings, as far as I can tell they have all been posted now. The one you see above was a temple in Kyoto, the original painting was given away as a gift I believe, it was not on my catalogue, lucky I found the backup disk.  

Japan, Kyoto Temple 5 x 8" cold press Watercolour  2006  

 This was done at the same temple if memory serves me correct, it was some sort of good luck decoration hanging from an old tree. Considering the limitations of my palette at the time which I recently recreated in this blog, it is amazing how many earthy and gold tones I could produce. Too bad the alizarin crimson I used is not stable, these paintings would not be good to hang in the sunlight. Guess I have to go back to Japan and do some new ones when the pandemic is over!

Japan, Kyoto Temple Ornament 6 x 10" cold press Watercolour  2006 (No. 1209)  

 The bed and breakfast I stayed at had a bicycle to borrow and I whipped around Kyoto for an afternoon. A sprawling park in the south of the city had plenty of cherry blossoms and neat trees to paint, with amazing mountains in the background. You an see the cerulean blue (PB35) glowing in the distant mountains.

Japan, Kyoto leaning tree 5 x 7" cold press Watercolour  2006

 

It started to rain that day so I hopped on the bike and tried to get back in time. Then a crane landed on a tiny tuft of land in the middle of the river that surrounds Kyoto. I had to paint it, even through the rain was coming down. The crane flew away shortly after I started the painting, and there were people walking on the other side of the embankment with umbrellas. 

Japan, Kyoto Crane 5 x 12" cold press Watercolour  2006 (No. 1210)

     

For a day trip I headed up to a small mountain village in the hills north of Kyoto where they hold a fire festival each year. Some of the other people I knew from the Conference I had attended in Nagoya were there too! Many of us had taken the extra week vacation after the conference and headed to Kyoto. This view is from the very top stairs of the temple complex looking back down into the valley. Another valley scene is in this blog, it was a magical place.

Japan, Kundai, Top of Stairs View, 5 x 8" cold press Watercolour  2006 (No. 1208)    

 

 

 

 

World Inspired Landscapes: China

 

I started the World Inspired Landscapes series in 2020, but in 2001 I made a couple of paintings inspired by the Yangtze river in China. They were painted on a very thin watercolour paper using professional watercolour paints mostly from Winsor and Newton at that time. I was part of a Chinese art and calligraphy group for a few years and learned many things about art and culture. The first painting shows the steep cliffs and lush greenery that used to be there before the Yangtze was flooded to build a power dam. The chartreuse is particularly brilliant in the water reflections. 

Yangtze River with Boat, 9 x 12 Watercolour paper, 2001 (No.1418)

 

Here is a magnificent panorama of the mountainous spires that guard the flanks of the Yangtze. Pastel tones suggest a misty sunrise. A lone tree clings to the mountainside, and a group of birds flies in the distance. The tints are likely rose madder genuine an impermanent pigment, perhaps I will repaint this one with modern pigments on a better quality paper. It reminds me a little of the painting Sunrise on the Saguenay, Cape Trinity by Canadian painter Lucius O'Brien which you can see here. I also did a painting on Réunion island inspired by 'Sunrise on the Saguenay', which I used to have a poster of on my wall.

Yangtze River Panorama, 9 x 12" Watercolour paper, 2001 (No. 1754)

 

 

Irises, Plamondon, Côte-Vertu, du College Orange Line

 

"Looking for a place to happen, making stops along the way." Tragically Hip lyric

Making good time on along Plamondon, I caught a glimpse of purple irises growing between the sidewalk and a fence.  Speeding by on my bicycle, it occurred to me that Van Gogh would have stopped to paint that. And so I found a decent little nook beside a fire hydrant to stand and paint the scene. Of course I used the Van Gogh watercolour paints that I recently purchased from Kama pigments with the metal palette, with the addition of indothrene blue (PB60 Winsor and Newton), quinacridone magenta (PV19 Schmincke), and raw sienna warm shade (PBr7 Stone Ground Paint Co.). Glad I brought along those colours, they really helped capture the violet irises and golden warm sunlight. Like Van Gogh's famous painting Irises, I cropped out the sky and focused on the flowers. To make it a Darlington I had to include the sidewalk too!

Irises next to Sidewalk, 5 x 7" cold press, watercolour, May 2021 (No. 2647)

Still on my way to the final destination, I rode by the Plamondon station of the orange line metro. There was not very much real estate to stand and paint, but I found a nook beside some recycling bins. Unfortunately a big SUV parked in front of me partially blocking the scene, and the people came out and met friends on the sidewalk, stood right there in front of me talking very loudly indeed. Luckily I had my medical mask on just to be on the safe side. They took interest in the art and said it was good. Then they offered me a Krispy creme doughnut to which I said no thanks. This painting was a test of concentration, but I am very focused when painting. I rushed the background a little, but kind of like the blurred effect it created, like a photographic-style depth of field. 

Update: In October of 2021, I made one more painting of a back entrance of Plamondon during a pastel sunset. 

Plamondon Station, Orange Line Metro, 8 x 10" cold press, watercolour, May 2021 (No. 2648)

A few more kilometers and I made it to Côte-Vertu Station the orange line terminus. Last year I completed the 27 stations of the green line metro line, starting in Angrignon, and ending on Honoré-Beaugrand Station. One of my goals this year is to complete at least half of the Orange line stations, I already bagged a few such as Villa Maria station, Vendome, Beaubien, and a the cross-over stations like Snowdon and UQAM. I would like to include people and cars in the scenes but I need to practice a bit more, it has been awhile since I painted these type of complex urban scenes. To make the incredible brick colour I used iron oxide red (PBr7/PR101 mix of Uradori Red Ochre and Sennelier Red Brown), and the caput  mortum (PR101 Sennelier) that I recently picked up at Deserres and used to make a painting of the parking lot. It felt a little excessive to be buying yet another earth paint, but after using caput for a few paintings it is turning out to be extremely useful. The brick colour you see in the painting is just what it was like, a deep red/rust brick that was back lit by a strong sun. The caput paint is a dull dark red with a bit of granularity, the mixtures have to be stirred frequently.  I've been carrying cobalt blue again on my palette, you see how useful it is to get the window frames. The whole face of the building was in shadow. Luckily I found  good landscaped boulder to sit on under a tree it was a great location. Some people watched me paint and asked some questions. Now I tell people that I am a blogger and on Instagram!

Update: I made five more paintings of Côte-Vertu Stationin November 2021.

Côte-Vertu Station, Orange Line Metro, 8 x 10" cold press, watercolour, May 2021 (No. 2656)

After perusing the google map on my smart phone, I found the next station Du College, which has a main building, and a secondary entrance that looks like newer construction. There were cool angles behind the station but the lighting was not right, so I did this view of the metro sign casting a shadow and a glimpse of the entrance. The shadow caught my eye- I thought  'can I do that?' You may notice how smooth and bright this painting appears, that is because it is done on hot press watercolour paper, the same brand (Fabriano) as the cold press one I have been using. It handles completely differently, the paint absorbs quickly, and the brush strokes are really consequential. It seems best to paint fast and confidently. There are 31 stations in the orange line metro and I have painted 8 of them, so that leaves 24 to go!

Update: I returned to du College to make two more paintings in November of 2021.

Du College Station, Orange Line Metro, 5 x 7" hot press, watercolour, May 2021 (No. 2649)

World Inspired Landscapes: Bulgaria

Bulgaria has an amazing variety of landscapes, similar in that respect to Albania or Australia. It was hard to choose one theme for the world inspired landscape so I thought about doing two paintings, then had the idea to combine the compositions into one painting. The top of the painting shows the black sea (which is not actually black, black meant North in ancient languages), sprawling white sandy beaches, and a lush mountainous countryside bathed in sun. Towards the bottom, the landscape transforms into a rocky cliff leading to an underground cavern. Bulgaria has some of the most elaborate and beautiful caves in all the world open to tourists and adventurers. Colourful lichen grow on the rocks, which appear as earth colours like burnt sienna, umber and yellow ochres.

World Inspired Landscapes: Bulgaria, 10 x 11" cold press, watercolour, May 2021 (No. 2664)

Marche Central Parking lot

Marche Central is a sprawling parking lot surrounded by big box stores, a lot like Ontario in some ways. The parking lot seemed well kept and I could compose an interesting scene showing the yellow safety paint on the curbs, colourful cars, and some landscaping. The third car in the background was done with caput mortum (PR101) a dark dusty red iron oxide by Sennelier. The paint was also used to create the green shrubbery in the foreground by adding a touch of it to phthalo green yellow shade (PG36). To liven up an otherwise normal scene I kept the brushwork loose and didn't fret too much about the details. One thing Van Gogh conveyed was a sense of joy in his paintings through colour and brushwork. David Hockney who is still painting, recently did a series of plein air paintings using a Van Gogh inspired palette and approach. I am often inspired by these great masters and try to imitate some of their colourful and energetic style.

Marche Central Parking lot, 5 x 7" cold press, watercolour, May 2021 (No. 2646)

Sports Dome and PERFORM Centre Spring

 Today was another hot and muggy day, mostly overcast which made it possible to stand out in the open and do this painting from a similar vantage point as last winter. It was hard to judge the exact spot because in the winter this lane-way was bordered by great mounds of snow and looked quite different. Today the dome appeared to blend into the overcast sky, and the PERFORM Centre (french spelling) window was reflecting the foliage that they planted beside the building. It is nearly 10 years now exactly that I joined Concordia University and started doing research in the laboratory that is located on the top floor of the Centre. I also played a lot of Ultimate (frisbee) in that dome. Usually they dismantle it after the winter but since the pandemic it has stayed up all year around, unused. One of my biggest blog fans liked to see the paintings done of the same subject but different times of year. So here is another one!

 Sports Dome and PERFORM Centre Spring,  5 x 7" cold press, watercolour, May 2021 (No. 2645a)