Indigenous Statue, Loyola Campus

 During the week I ate lunch out in the quad taking in the fresh air and sun. This painting shows the shadowed side of an indigenous statue that adorns the campus. It seems to represent the territorial acknowledgement that the land was once indigenous before passing hands from the French army to the church and then to Loyola college and finally Concordia University. To paint the bright blue sky, I used phthalo blue sapphire (PB15) from Holbein and cobalt blue (PB28) also from Holbein. The Holbein phthalo blue paints are much better suited for landscape painting than some other brands, because they do not stain as much and stay put when you apply them to the sky. Other brands have the problem that phthalo blue will create blue marks on the paper and run into the cloud effects. Cilei really liked this painting so I hung it up on the wall in a simple two piece frame with clips. 

Indigenous Statue, Loyola Campus, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2021 (No. 2839)

Loyola Campus Crosswalks

 Loyola campus has a central quad with criss-crossing paths, lawns and picnic tables for students to hang out when the weather is nice like today. I got out of the office for some fresh air and sun, and made this painting as I sat up on the concrete steps of the CJ building. The background is the main entrance to the SP building where my office is located. They had just finished a catered barbeque for some event, so the table in the painting was from that event, guess I wasn't invited!

Loyola Campus Crosswalks, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2021 (No. 2838)

Snowdon Bakery Fall

Snowdon bakery is located down on Harley street where I have often made paintings for example the red bike in the snow. Today at lunch I went down to pick up some bread and made a quick painting of the fall colours in the trees which contrasted nicely against the warm beige bricks of the bakery. Like a croissant colour! In fact, the brick pigment was probably the same as my paint pigment, raw sienna (PBr7). The trees were various hues of yellow, brown and maroon. I also used a lot of yellow ochre in the grey mixes and sky, to give the whole painting a warm yellow fall glow. 

Snowdon Bakery Fall, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2021 (No. 2837)

Carbon Colour Copy

Continuing with the palette cleaning, this painting was done simultaneously with the previous post's painting. I had a lot of yellow ochre (PY43) left over apparently. It is such a strong paint you don't need much of it usually. Yellow ochre is very opaque and thick so it does not mix really well, but I find it indispensable for making certain greys and muted yellows. I used to use aureolin yellow (PY40) for that, but aureolin is quite toxic and it fades in sunlight. For bright yellow, now I use PY175 which is a near exact replacement for aureolin. Colours aside, this painting features carbon black (PBk6) infused between the strands of blue and brown. It kind of reminds me of a Van Gogh painting of the black crows flying over the hayfields.

Palette Cleanser: Carbon Colour Copy, 9 x 12" watercolour paper, watercolour, October 2021 (No. 2890a)

Climb @ Change

 Climate change is causing much turbulence in the world. The heat is hotter and the cold is colder. This abstract painting depicts a lively sky inspired by Monty Python, raking through the dry grass. I saw plenty of dry grass this summer, and used a lot more yellow paint and raw sienna than usual. Most of the warm beige you see is yellow ochre, an ancient colour similar to dijon mustard in appearance and consistency. It was not a paint I was fond of, but this year I made great use of yellow ochre. This painting was also a palette cleanser, it really needed some cleaning after the rainy weekend trip, in fact there were little bits leaves and dirt embedded in some of the paints I had to scrape out!

Palette Cleanser: Climb @ Change 9 x 12" watercolour paper, watercolour, October 2021 (No. 2891)

Jarry Park and Orange Line Station, Periods of Rain

The forecast called for rain, rain and more rain. Periods of rain is what they called it. Undaunted, I biked to Jarry Station on the other side of Mont Royal in the borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension. Atop the station is a community housing apartment called Habitat Jarry, it is a towering monolith of orange bricks and reflective windows. As I sized up the scene, a flock of pigeons filled the sky and headed across the street. The rain was just misting for this painting until the end when it picked up.
 

Jarry Station, Orange Line Metro, When Pigeons Fly, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, October 2021 (No. 2909)
 

 

Underneath a concrete shelter, there was a colourful mural of pigs flying. The composition shows a corner of the mural juxtaposed with the actual sky. If pigeons can fly then so can pigs. I used a lot of carbon black in the outlines and the mixes to give a feeling of gloom and rain. To punch up the colours, I used burnt red ochre (PR102) and pyrol orange (PO73) in the bricks. One of the houses across the street was pink, which was done with PR122 quinacridone magenta.

Jarry Station, Orange Line Metro, When Pigs Fly, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2021 (No. 2835)
 

This was the first painting I did on the way to the station. The rain was really coming down and the only shelter was a big tree, and the umbrella. It was quite tricky to have an umbrella stuffed into the front of my jacket at the same time as painting with both hands occupied, especially with the wind. I got a lot of paint on my hands and gear. There was a baseball diamond in the scene, but you would hardly know it. At least you get the feeling of being stuck in a rain storm in Jarry Park!

 Jarry Park, Rainy Day, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2021 (No. 2836)
 
 

Mile End Clark and Fairmount Fall

This scene is just outside of the barber, I made a quick painting on my foray to the mile end to see the dentist and get a haircut finally. It was mostly overcast with glimpses of sunlight. Painting in the city is challenging due to the amount of detail. I tried to get in enough elements to give you the feeling of the area. Architecture, funky benches, bikes, cars, and shrubbery. Of course there were people walking up and down the sidewalks but it is difficult to superimpose people on a quick painting like this. I used the triangle composition, you see the diagonal created by the sidewalk, inspired by Hiroshige the great Japanese print maker.
 

Mile End Clark and Fairmount Fall, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2021 (No. 2834)