Stretch the Legs, Summit M2

On the weekend after my trip out East I decided to hike up to the top of Mount Royal, otherwise known as M2 on this blog. There in winter I did one of the best paintings of the year, the overpass covered in snow with an incredible curved shadow. I was dismayed to find out that the whole thing had been leveled. Dismayed, but not surprised, Montreal has a penchant for the bulldozer. The sky had the most interesting wispy clouds that I created with wet and wet and some lifting techniques. The overpass would have been about in the middle here.

Wispy Clouds Over the Overpass (which is now over), watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2021 (No. 2698)

 

The main challenge of the day was to see if I could make the 15 km round trip by foot, and if my gear would stay in one piece. Well my shoulder strap broke but I could manage to fix it, and I forgot to bring a sunscreen to do a refresh. But otherwise, I made it to the highest point of the mountain at 233m. This painting is at a classic location around Beaver Lake, a steep hillside where in the winter kids toboggan. I did a more psychedelic interpretation of this scene a few years ago. Oh yeah, I also updated a painting which one of my eagle-eyed readers noticed had a missing boat panel. Good catch Dad.

Beaver Lake Walkers, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2021 (No. 2699)

Montréal Est: Day 3 the Ride Home

Day 3 of the trip to the East side of the island promised much rain on the return, and a stiff wind. I stopped at one last park to make a painting, it was a lovely cool morning and the sun starting to shine. The locals were showing up here with their coffee to enjoy the view. Having a good nights sleep helped my brush stay true and colours shine. I didn't even realize that there were two boats in the distance, overlapping closely, until I was nearly finished the painting and one started to drift from the other. I used all the knowledge from the previous longest day of painting. I like this painting it is really immersive.

Parc du Fort-De-Pointe-Aux-Trembles, Bench View, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2021 (No. 2720)

 

I stopped a few times, and got lost in a labyrinth of bike path detours downtown, but finally emerged dry and unscathed. It had started spitting rain drops, but then abated. I decided to give the new Vendome station entrance a go, you can also see the old station at the right of the painting. It was overcast that day, I should go back when the sun is shining. But tomorrow (Tuesday) I will start my next adventure... to the West island.

Vendome Station Orange Line Metro, New Entrance, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2021 (No. 2721)

 

Montréal Est: The Biggest Day Part 2

After reaching the end of the island, I retraced my way back to the nature reserve and rode through its woods which offered a refreshingly cool temperature. A small path caught my eye, at the end of it was a very brown very green swamp with two families of ducks with many ducklings swimming through the dense weeds. You can barely see them in the painting, I used a lifting technique to create their fluffy bodies. Half the scene was in darkness, the other in light. I used plenty of umber (PBr7) for this one.

Parc-Nature Pointe-aux-Prairies Duck Swamp, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2021 (No. 2716a)

As I headed for the upper parts of the nature reserve, this scene emerged, it is looking down a steep embankment into an algae-filled swamp littered with fallen trees. It was just missing some cobwebs and spiders to be a complete Halloween theme. It was fun to capture the intense chartreuse (lime) green and variety of shapes in the broken trees. Another tourist saw me painting this and then took a picture of it. The black blobs at the top were actually the water showing through, an inky black.
 

Parc-Nature Pointe-aux-Prairies Creepy Swamp, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2021 (No. 2716b)

 

Did you know there are two kinds of chartreuse, one greenish like in the swamp, and another yellowish like in this painting of a winding bike and pedestrian path going through the woods. The path itself was caput mortum (PR101) a kind of violet-red earth paint, and the intense yellow was copious amounts of lemon (PY175). I really embellished this painting to convey the feeling of the scene, you can imagine zipping your bike through this path with intense sunlight and a cool breeze.

Parc-Nature Pointe-aux-Prairies Winding Path, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2021 (No. 2717 not numbered yet, at parents' house)

 

At this point in the day I was tired and starting to run out of water. Luckily I could use my dirty water for the swamp scenes which left some for a few more paintings. These sumac trees had very interesting shapes colours and textures which contrasted the wavy field of grass and reeds. A train rumbled by in the background. By now I was painting smoothly, just see anything interesting, stop, paint, repeat. I wonder if this was how Van Gogh felt when painting in France.  

Parc-Nature Pointe-aux-Prairies Sumacs, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2021 (No. 2718)

 

On my way back to the hotel I crossed one more park, this one was a non-de-script stretch of paths and benches in the heart of the Point-Aux-Trembles neighborhood. It was also coffee time, so I fixed up a little instant coffee with remaining dribbles of water, and thoroughly enjoyed it, you see the small plastic cup of coffee in the painting. I actually dabbed on some coffee to make the coffee in the painting, then finished it with raw umber (on the painting not in my coffee). I was feeling a little loopy at this time, probably mild heat stroke or exhaustion maybe, but my spirits were high. These chess-board tables were interesting, I composed them in a dream-like arrangement. Then I had the idea to include my paint brush painting the painting that I was painting. Like I said, high spirits!

Parc René-Lecavalier, High Spirits, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, June 2021 (No. 2895)

That had to be it, I was done for the day, or was I?

 

On my way to pick up some Indian food at a great little spot called Resto Indian, I noticed the industrial area just up on Blvd. St. Jean-Baptiste. Curious, I headed into the stench, a kind of chemical toilette aroma. The road had a steep grass embankment that was not fenced off, so I headed to the top bike in tow. The view was awesome, like not in a nice kind of way. It was extremely windy and smelly up here. The little pond area was sectioned off with giant concrete blocks, and half of the water behind a barrier was greenish. There were little shrubs and vines growing all around the water area. The main feature was a giant chemical drum, which surprisingly had a door on its side. The rest of the facility was a tangle of pipes and metal chimneys. What a shock, this all surrounded by suburbs and shopping areas.

Montreal East, Discount Resort!, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2021 (No. 2719)

The longest painting day was over with 15 paintings completed. Heading down to the restaurant, I enjoyed my hard earned chicken madras with rice ...  

Eating with the Swiss army knife and fork given to me by Fritz and Cileni last year...I thought I was eating alone.. or was I?

 

Montréal Est: The Biggest Day Part 1

Last Thursday I woke up to fantastic weather out in Montreal East and gathered together my bicycle and gear. The previous day I had made painting in parks along the St. Lawrence River. To start the biggest day of painting, I made this little watercolour of an old fashioned house now used for tourism. Cobalt blue (PB28) was key in achieving the high chroma blue roof. If you compare closely to when I first blogged about this one, you will see small adjustments to the shadows.

Parc Marcel Leger with Maison Antoine Beaudry, watercolour cold press 5 x 7", June 2021 (No. 2710)

Next up was the sprawling Parc-Nature Pointe-aux-Prairies, a nature reserve that spans most of the width of the island. You are looking at the St. Lawrence river, here the shore line was a little less rocky and more sandy. Tall reeds were abundant, they mirrored the tall condo building being built in the distance. This painting features the interesting contrast between pastel orange and blue at the water's edge.

Parc-Nature Pointe-aux-Prairies Shore Line, watercolour cold press 6 x 7.5", June 2021 (No. 2711)

The central part of the park was mostly sectioned off, with just a few pedestrian and bike paths criss-crossing the forest. I found the most incredible place to stand, on a small trail rising around an old tree, offering a superb view of the seemingly never-ending field of flowers growing under the forest canopy. They looked like Queen Anne lace, and smelled as strong as the perfume you might smell at a department store perfume section, but more pleasant. I wasn't sure how to go about painting this, so I worked up textures from light to dark and kept the trees lively. You can see a photo I took in this area on the blog I linked above.

Parc-Nature Pointe-aux-Prairies Flower Field in Forest, watercolour cold press 5 x 7", June 2021 (No. 2712)

 

I could have spent all day in the nature park, but my ultimate destination awaited me, the park at the end of the island. On the way I stopped at Pierre-Payet park for lunch and made a few paintings. Usually I avoid painting private property but this house had some incredible colours on the red side of the spectrum. The bright ferrari red down by the fence, the neutral iron red of the tree trunck, the maroon of the tree leaves, and the magenta of the trellis flowers. It felt good to make use of the full palette.

Pierre-Payet Park Colourful Garden, watercolour cold press 5 x 7", June 2021 (No. 2713)

This was the view I had as I ate lunch, seated on the grass towards the end of the park. The grass was awfully dry, and the wind was gusting. The shore line made an interesting shape, it is part of Saint Thérèse Island, which actually is part of Varennes Quebec. There were little shanties and locals boating and kayaking around here. .

Pierre-Payet Park View of Verrenes #1, watercolour cold press 5 x 7", June 2021 (No. 2714a)

 

And this one from the same spot looking Eastward towards the confluence of the St. Lawrence and Prairie rivers. The big tree in the middle must be a real survivor, a colossus of sorts to stand strong in what must be some difficult winter conditions. Today the tree was just enjoying the sunshine.

Pierre-Payet Park View of Verrenes #2, watercolour cold press 5 x 7", June 2021 (No. 2714b)

 

And then there were no more parks left on the way, I made it to Parc du Bout-de-l'Île the Eastern most point of the island of Montreal. I tried to translate this but it had something to do with combat, perhaps that is the case, but I thought it meant 'boot' like toe of the boot. If you look closely among the rocks you will find the toe of my left shoe, just to show I was there, at the end of the boot. Half of the painting shows the rampart of large stones there as a breakwater. The water on the left, which is the Prairie river, had an odd purple-brown colour, while the St. Lawrence (top right) had a brilliant turquoise where the two rivers met. I downplayed the condos and other urbanity on the far shore to maximize the great colour contrast with the chartreuse grasses. This was the only 9 x 12" painting I did on the trip, I brought one piece just for this type of scene. I noticed on the map this park was also called  Parc du Fort-De-Pointe-Aux-Trembles, so perhaps it was two parks in one, the central area was filled with interesting statues.

Parc du Bout-de-l'Île The End of the Boot, watercolour cold press 9 x 12", June 2021 (No. 2894)

 

I walked carefully with my bike along the rocky shore, some of it was a dense sand beach, and arrived at a small triangle of land, literally the tip of the island. A large stately tree that had seen better days was leaning badly due to erosion. I captured the tangle of roots and different textures of bark. In the background you see Notre Dame Hwy 138 bridge going off island, afterwards I rode about halfway across but was not equipped to go much further. As I painted this one, a couple of people drifted by in a motor boat that was not running, the were fishing, and I could tell they were watching me... some guy in a bucket hat with his bike beside him, doing a painting of a dead old tree.

Parc du Bout-de-l'Île Leaning Tree, watercolour cold press 5 x 7", June 2021 (#2714)

 Around the bend I found a dense grassy area with a view of Prairie river in the background, you see that odd purple-brown colour (done with perylene maroon PR179, indo blue PB60, and touches of cobalt blue PB28). I almost walked past this scene, I was tired and knew it would be a tough one. But Van Gogh did a painting like this once so I gave it a go. I also wanted to use every brush and every colour. I started with my 1 inch round hog's hair brush because I only ever use it clean the palette in between paintings, so thought this brush deserved a chance to shine. Then I worked through all the brushes, a No. 8, No. 6, No. 4, No 2, filbert, and small rigger. I also employed each of the 20 paints from my palette. Even the magenta saw some action in the little pink flowers. As I walked about this area, I noticed the remains of campfires and evidence of parties, so this seemed like the kind of place the kids would go to hang out and party at night.

Parc du Bout-de-l'Île Everyone is Invited, watercolour cold press 5 x 7", June 2021 (No. 2715)

So I made it, all the way out to the tip of Montreal island. But my day was only half over, there was plenty of sun and plenty of watercolour paper left!

 

 

Montréal Est: Parks along the St. Lawrence

 

On day 1 of my bike ride to the East point I made several paintings at Parc Honoré-Mercier, then carried on along the Notre Dame bike path to the next park called Hotel de Ville (City Hall Park). The first thing I saw was this incredible blue pine tree with purple cones. In the background colourful buoys were in the St. Lawrence River. The bike path can be seen just behind the tree and before the shore line. Getting the colour and value right was tough, the tree was a smoky blue-green, while the river was a greenish dark blue colour. The purple pine cones were neat, you don't see that colour very often in nature. 

Parc hotel de Ville 1, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press June 2021 (No. 2705)

 

There was a prominent rocky point that descended to a large block of concrete, it seemed to be used for sitting or fishing. Some bicycle cops showed up and they were just taking a rest. I captured the image of one of their bikes at the top left, but added a saddle pack to make it look my bike. Some of the rocks had an iron-oxide colour to them, so I signed in burnt sienna an iron oxide paint.

Parc hotel de Ville 2, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2021 (No. 2706)

 

The main feature of this park as the name indicates is a Moulin (Mill), although not a rouge one. It looked pretty old (Vieux) but well maintained it is probably a tourist attraction in better times. At least it attracted one tourist enough to make a painting of it. Van Gogh famously painted windmills in Paris when he first arrived. It is a difficult structure to get right, I began with a carbon black outline then filled in the colours. To get the brick effect I made a dilute yellow ochre (PY43) wash, then added grey (PB60+PR101 caput mortum) when it was still wet. Once that dries, the stones went on in groups, including grey, brown and black stones.

Parc de Vieux Moulin, Mill, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2021 (No. 2707)

 

The next park was completely in shadow when I arrived due to the low sun. This boat was the same one that I saw from a distance in the Parc Honoré-Mercier paintings, and it was still illuminated by the setting sun. The white part of the ship is just the paper showing. To make it glow, I made the rest of the painting various shades of grey, so the white looks radiant by contrast. 

Parc Doris Lussier, Ship, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2021 (No. 2708)

 

Just enough light for one more painting, I found another ship subject in the distance at the next park.  A sail boat was moored close to the shore between a narrow island with no name which acted as a breakwater. I made sure to get the sails right because my dad is a real expert on sailboats and could probably guess what kind it was from the painting. This painting concluded my first day of the trip, I headed up the hotel from here. In fact I had made 10 paintings on the first day which is not a bad haul. Glad I got out there safe and sound too.

Parc Neuville-sur-Vanne, Sailboat, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2021 (No. 2709)

Community Artwork

Talking about equality and lack thereof, we noticed how our neighborhood is starkly different along community lines. Across Côte Saint-Luc road, the tall rows of brown brick triplexes gives way to sprawling single family dwellings surrounded by green grass lawns. This painting is one of contrasts, the dry lawn in the foreground compared to the watered green lawn in the background, and the single level bungalow house compared to high density triplex. The wind was fierce when I did this one, almost blew away my palette a few times. 

Community Line, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2021 (No. 2722)

 

Back on Côte Saint-Luc road I found this impressive scene of apartment blocks each with its own character. The white truck in the foreground was a parked delivery truck, which I hoped would stay for longer but it drove away midway through the painting. To make a painting like this, I first do the outline and then fill in the details. The cars zipping by, I just had to go by brief impressions. I decided to make one of the cars red just because it is fun to use ferrari red paint (PR254... pyrole red).

Community Windows, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2021 (No. 2722)

 

There is a community center at the corner of Walkley and Côte Saint-Luc road with little bits of grass and some fenced in green spots. The locals hang out here and the kids have a small patch of lawn to play on. An expensive jet black SUV was parked at the curb, its buffed door panels were reflecting the community center lawn. Its gleaming chrome and luxurious qualities contrasted the rusted iron fence with weeds and wildflowers growing. Yet the circular iron design mirrored the hubcap, and was in itself reflected in the car doors. This was one of those paintings that just came together, the concept, composition, and technique worked. Rendering the car was complex, the mirrored image was warped and had reduced value and chroma. The window and parts of the chrome, body and window were also reflecting the sky. The main message is the stark divide in wealth that can be seen if one takes a moment to notice it.

Community Reflection, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2021 (No. 2722)

Montréal Est: Parc Honoré-Mercier

The east part of Montreal is called Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles. There are plenty of hyphenated names out there, not to mention incredible parks along the Rivers and a large nature reserve. I spent a few days on the Point-aux-Trembles side which is next to the St. Lawrence River. My final destination was the very tip of the island, a small park called Parc du Bout-de-l'Île where the Praries River merges with the St. Lawrence River. This group of paintings was done at Parc Honoré-Mercier, a long narrow park where I made a few painting last year after completing the green line metro series. The colours of the river were surprisingly tropical: turquoise green and sapphire blue with flashes of caramel tones. As the clouds passed over, the river changed colours like a chameleon. The rest of the scene was dry and arid, we are in the midst of drought-like conditions. 

Parc Honoré-Mercier 1, cold press 5 x 7", watercolour, June 2021 (No. 2700)

 

The next scene was looking downstream at the beginnings of the shipping port, you see a gigantic ship moored on the horizon. People were fishing up and down the St. Lawrence River. This part of the park had just been renovated so the landscaping was brand new. A seemingly angry group of red winged blackbirds were making noise and flitting about. At this angle, the river had more emerald tones.

Parc Honoré-Mercier 2, cold press 5 x 7", watercolour, June 2021 (No. 2701)

 

I found a path leading down to the river side. It was a vast expanse of rocks and pebbles. This scene was overcast so I stood right out in the middle of the rocky beach, then the sun came out. Painting the chaotic rock patterns was a challenge. The famous ship was still there on the horizon.

Parc Honoré-Mercier 3, cold press 5 x 7", watercolour, June 2021 (No. 2702)

 

Near the end of the park was a large fishing pier with a small crowd of people angling. The clouds were layered and variable, a mix of storm clouds and clear blue sky. This was a good place to sit and have a snack, my bike saddle packs were fully loaded for the trip. You see the colour of the water changed once again, when it was overcast the river appeared to be a flat blue. I  created the glowing sky with indo blue (PB60) and caput mortum (PR101), along with techniques such as lifting, wet-in-wet, and dry brush. It took the whole 'tool box' to paint a complex sky like this.

Parc Honoré-Mercier 4, cold press 5 x 7", watercolour, June 2021 (No. 2703)

 

Five paintings seemed like a nice round number to complete (hey I was being an artist not a mathematician). The grass in the park was dry as dust, I used yellow ochre (PY43) with a touch of indo blue and some green (PG36). In the background the pine trees were almost orange, while the foreground landscaping provided some colour accents. For most of the painting on this trip I established an outline with dilute carbon black, in this one the outline was really helpful due to the complex perspective and geometry. Maybe a little science did come into play.

Parc Honoré-Mercier 5, cold press 5 x 7", watercolour, June 2021 (No. 2704)

To get to Parc Honoré-Mercier I rode my bike East along the familiar Maisonneuve bike path which goes through NDG and across downtown Montreal. From there I veered right onto the Notre-Dame 'bike path' which oft consists of a sidewalk marked with bike path symbols. It takes you East all the way past the shipping port and into Montreal East. Good thing I wore the earplugs there were a lot of trucks going to and fro the port. On day one of the trip I rode about 28 km and made 10 paintings.