Crowd Control at Mount Royal

After team Argentina won the world cup today, there were throngs of people out and about with flags. Cars were going by fast, honking and waving the flag of Argentina, which is blue and white with a yellow sun in the middle. It was all happening as I walked down Parc Avenue painting scenes of snowy trees and old fashioned triplexes. At the central part of Mount Royal park the sidewalk was blocked by a large crowd of fans celebrating the win in public, they were singing, waving flags and dancing up a storm. Police cars were everywhere, and this group of police officers on horses was observing from just around the statue (a portion of which is shown on the right). The crowd is just sketched into the left side of the painting, enough to show the flag and a hint of the crowd. The real subject matter were the horses-mounted officers who were wearing neon green bibs and helmets, and their impressive horses. Since the sun was down there was almost no light and I had to go by experience to judge the colours, the neon green came out great. I really liked the colour of the horses, they were a very dark chestnut, with splashes of rust colour. To complete the painting, a dark sky and high-contrast city skyline was sketched in. Glad to say, this one is very memorable, it perfectly caught the moment.

Crowd Control at Mount Royal, Horse Police, watercolour 8 x 10" Strathmore Gemini, December 2022 (No. 3336b)

Wintery Walk down Parc Avenue

Today, everything had a thick covering of snow from the storm that blew through town. In this scene, you can see the tree branches heavy with snow, and a bright orange facade of one of the many old fashioned triplexes in the Plateau area. I was standing on Parc Avenue near Bernard street, which is part of the Mile End neighborhood around where I used to live. To paint the snowy branches I filled in the background elements, leaving random spots white, added the shadowed snow, and finished with the tree trunk and branches. The sun-lit brick is orange (PO62) with a touch of red ochre (PR101/PBr7).

Facade with Snowy Tree, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, December 2022 (No. 3311a)

 

Not too far down the avenue there was a construction project that was blocking half the road. In the background were more of the old facades with snowy trees. Construction plus snow is an iconic duo here in Montreal. I left the top of the pylons white even though they were full shadow, it gives a real pop to the foreground. To create the central shadow with highlight, I applied a large patch of dark violet, with the blue sky on top, and left the top part of the buildings white until the other parts dried. Some paint splashed on the sky, it was a messy time painting today!

Snow and Construction on Parc Avenue, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, December 2022 (No. 3312)

At the beginning of Mont Royal park there is a popular toboggan hill. The sun was basically down now, which created some dark shadows and silhouetted trees. Peoples clothes and their sleds gave a few splashes of colour. 

Sunset on Toboggan Hill, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, December 2022 (No. 3309b)

 

Heavy Snow on Somerled Av

There has been heavy snow fall for the past few days resulting in great piles of snow on just about everything. In this scene, I stood under the overhang of the bank next door, which protected the painting from the constant barrage of snow. It was a challenging task, to paint the billowy white snow caps on the branches and other objects in the scene. An eerie turquoise salt was on the path in the foreground which provided a splash of colour along with the windshield of the car across the street. I tried a second painting but the sky wouldn't dry and the whole thing turned to mush. When painting in these conditions, its perhaps best to avoid layering, just paint more directly.

Heavy Snow on Somerled Av, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, December 2022 (No. 3310)

Colourful Snow Pile at Night

I found this unusual scene on campus after work, it is the psychology building with a pile of snow in the field. The building had decorative magenta lights beaming down, and a strong amber light was behind me. The sky was a neutral blue with some purplish hues. Because it was snowing at the time, little snowflakes fell on the painting while it was still wet creating a snow-effect. It was fun to paint this one, with all the magenta and purple colours that don't show up very often in a landscape scene.

Colourful Snow Pile at Night, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, December 2022 (No. 3309a)

Lights for Ghosts

 Today was about going places and painting things, after the exam pick up in the morning. This painting was done at Trenhome park in NDG after picking up the vegetables from Lufa farms drop off. It shows a skating rink that they set up in anticipation for the cold wintery weather that is impending. In the background are the many lights off on the horizon, far past the canal. I've oft painted the nights sky, but never quite captured the inky black colour to his extant. It's a heavy mix of dark blue (PB60) red-orange (PO73) and some lamp black (PBk6). For the grass, variations of olive green were created with indo yellow (PY110) perylene green (PBk31) and yellow (PY174). There were no soccer players here, so it seemed like a field lit up for ghosts.

Lights for Ghosts, Trenholme Field, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, December 2022 (No. 3308)

Another Last Chance Painting

Down by the Alexis Nihon mall, near the old forum, there is a vacant lot that gives a view of an old fashioned window on a building. One day this spot will likely be filled up with a condo development, but for today it was a location for an artist. The insulating foam on the building to the left contained a variety of yellow that I captured using some van Gogh-inspired shades of yellow. The rest of the painting was a symphony of beige, including a raw sienna version that I created with yellow ochre and burnt sienna (Py43, PR101). For the fire hydrant I used the pyrol red (PR254).

Empty Lot, Fancy Window, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, December 2022 (No. 3284b)

Going places Painting Things

 

Going downtown to pickup the exams I stopped to make this painting of the main building on the Sir George Williams Campus. A lot of stressed out-looking students were walking on the sidewalks, but then again it was professors like me who write those exams and make them stressed out. To make this scene vibrant the colours were applied at very high chroma, it looked like rainbow colours at the time. Due to the overcast weather, and the paper which absorbs the paint and dulls it, the colours dried less intense. I used a new format here, about half of a 9x12 paper, which helps to capture the vertical city scenes. I'd like to try a 15 x 6 format, but it wont fit in the scanner, but it seems like a good size for painting in the city. 

Downtown Campus, Concordia U, watercolour 4.5 x 8" cold press, December 2022 (No. 3344)