The Basin of Culture, Chambly, Quebec

I recently visited Chambly Quebec and was lucky to find a real basin of culture. At least, the signs posted on the street said that we were in the basin of culture. After awhile in the small town just 30 minutes south of Montreal, I started to wonder where the actual 'basin of culture' was to be found. The tourist information did not help. At least there was a bar in the town, and they served cold Molson Export (but no blanche de chambly, to my shagrin).

Painting the masts of the ships required a lot of careful planning because the white of the mast is actually the blank paper showing through. All of the stuff around the ship masts (the lake the trees the mountain) had to stop at the edge. This requires a bit of practice, otherwise the edges look false, and the objects in the background (in this case the mountain) looks choppy. The deck also had to be painted in the same way, that is, leaving the shape of the deck blank when the lake was painted. Of course, if you wanted to cheat you could use white paint and simply apply it as a layer on top, but you can not do this in traditional watercolour, or else the 'basin of culture police' come out and arrest you.

watercolour 5x7" cold press, summer 2008