Biere et Vin Froid, St. Joseph St., Montreal, Canada

Here is a small painting done on location in the 'Mile End' area of Montreal. Little hole-in-the-wall depanneurs like this one can be found all over the town. A depanneur is a french equivalent of a convenience store, the biggest difference being the sale of liquor. Many of these stores advertise 'biere et vin froid' which means 'cold beer and wine', you can see posters in the window to this effect. Over top of the door is a porch from a second story apartment with a bike locked on the fence. The blend between commercial space and residential is what inspired me to paint this.


There is a strong shadow being cast from the porch onto the front of the store. Painting shadows like this is not too difficult if you understand the principle of a shadow. In the absence of direct sunlight, a shadow looses intensity of colour and picks up ambient light from the sky and from reflected sources. In this case the sidewalk is reflecting light onto the shadowed wall creating a luminous shadow. A similar effect was described in the blog entry for Cordoba, Spain. To paint this shadow, I use a multi layer approach. First I put down a pale wash for the bricks and the store front. Then I add the bluish/purple mix for the shadow on top of the the first wash. To the rest of the non-shadow wall I add a thin layer of bright orange to give the bricks that glowing luminosity. Finally, I add details on top like bricks.

Biere et Vin Froid, st Joseph St., 5 x 7.5" cold press paper, summer 2008 (No. 1078)

Higher Ground

Here is an abstract painting I did recently called Higher Ground. I was inspired by a chinese painting I bought years ago, it depicted a tree branch on the top of the picture, with a bird jumping off the branch. The bottom part of the chinese painting was completely blank paper, but when I first walked by the painting in the gallery I could have sworn that I saw a field of farms and a mountain in the background. When I came back to look at the painting for a second time it sunk in that the painting was actually blank on the bottom and the mountains I saw were an optical illusion, a product of my imagination. In the painting shown here, the entire top half of the painting is blank (except for the upper tree branches), but you could almost imagine that it is a cloudy sky, or that a bird is about to fly by.

Now I will explain how to paint a blank canvas...just kidding, you leave it blank. But seriously, it was important to make the edges of the other painting elements blend into the blankness. For example, there is a thin blue wash at the bottom of the painting, which I blended using a brush full of clean water. The trick is to use just the right amount of water to blend the edge of your wash....not enough and it looks too choppy, and too much the paint will continue to dissolve into your blend and dry with a hard edge. It's a matter of practice to get it right, once mastered the edge-blending is a powerful tool that allows you to create amazing effects and also fix mistakes. I should write a section on fixing mistakes soon! (the best advice with watercolour is: don't make mistakes).

Higher Ground, watercolour 10 x 11" cold press, spring 2008 (No. 1449)

Jazz Fest, Mountain View, Montreal, Canada

The last painting of the day is a scene looking north towards Mount Royal, you can see the cross and the radio tower in the distance. The sun was about to set, but the jazz fest was still in full swing. One of the jazz fest logos, the 'hep cat' can be seen in the middle ground, just over the young couple holding hands. The red structure to the right of the picture is the main building in the place de arts esplanade, the same building that can be seen in previous jazz painting 'jazz fest parade'.

The theme of the jazz fest paintings was the blend of the city of Montreal, the festival itself, and the massive crowds. Each of the three in the collection contain a backdrop of the city-scape, and elements of the festival and the crowd merged in to the landscape. I have always tried to maintain a theme with my paintings, whether a painting was of an old couch discarded on the sidewalk or a giant cathedral in Spain, the inspiration and the message was the most important aspect.

Jazz Fest, Mountain View, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, summer 2008 (No. 1086)

Jazz Festival Parade, Montreal, Canada

The second painting I did at the jazz festival was done in a very exciting circumstance. There was a bizarre parade going down St. Catherines, the parade included a marching band, flag bearers, a feathered woman on stilts, a giant alligator and some dude wearing a candy-red jester hat. Meanwhile, thousands of people lined the street trying to catch a glimpse of the action. At first I could not find a good place to sit, as the standing crowd was blocking the view. So I went up the street and found a nice place to sit and began to paint the crowd and the UQAM building as seen in the back-ground of the picture.

When the parade got there I quickly sketched it in, and a woman pusing a hot-dog cart went by, which I also sketched in. The parade came and went pretty quick so I worked fast and filled in details from memory. All of that energy from the surrounding translated into an exciting piece of artwork filled with vibrant colours and flowing lines. You can almost hear the tuba over the noise of the crowd, and smell the hotdogs and cheap beer.

Jazz Festival Parade, watercolour 5x7 cold press, summer 2008 (No. 1085)

Jazz Festival Main Stage, Montreal, Quebec

Recently Montreal hosted the world famous jazz festival situated in the heart of downtown Montreal. I spent an afternoon there painting pictures and enjoying the inspiration provided by the jazz tunes floating through the air. In the painting you see the Montreal skyline looking east, the alcove in the church wall contains a statue. In the middle-ground, a portion of the main stage is seen, the purple square is one of the video screens which broadcasts the scene from the stage. Of course, the crowds of people are seen milling about, waiting for the next show to start.

I start this painting with a rough outline of the skyline and the stage. I leave the part where the people go blank at first. The people are quick sketches of actual people I saw, but for the most part I fill in the details of the crowd from memory. People just wont stand still long enough for you to catch them. I had an offer to buy this painting from a festival goer, but I decided not to sell. It is always difficult to sell small paintings like this because people figure that it is like a small postcard and should only cost 5$ or something, so what is the point I figure. However, once in Stratford Ontario a fellow really wanted a painting I had done, and made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

Jazz Festival Main Stage, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, summer 2008 (No. 1084)

Chicken #5

This painting was done during christmas break 2006 at my parents place north of Toronto. For those of you who have not been to Ontario, I should say that giant chicken-shaped buildings are very common... most people live in such structures and commute to work in flying shoe-cards piloted by roosters. OK, I may have imagined a few things about Toronto, but people there do commute a lot.

The painting was built up from loose lines and flowing washes, and finishing with detailed brish work on the top. The brush work creates the illusion of size (see the small people at the foot of the chicken building and the windows). Also, creating the sense of space is a diffuse atmospheric lighting that makes the background trees blueish, and the head of the chicken building dissolve into the sky. The intense colours of the flying vehicle also create the sense of depth by contrasting against the chalky pastels of the background and middle ground.

Chicken #5, watercolour 10 x 11" cold press, winter 2006 (No. 1371)