With spring on the way we are getting some clear blue skies and very chilly wind. It was about -10C with windchill when I did this painting. I was sitting on the Decarie overpass on a small piece of road that is permanently blocked off to traffic, looking east towards downtown Montreal. Just behind the concrete barricade there were a few people waiting to cross the street which made me think about social distancing. There I was sitting on a derelict piece of road on the Decarie overpass, looking at some people 10 meters away behind a concrete divider. You can't get more socially distanced than that!
Lately I have been changing my paint set substantially, one colour I removed was Cerulean blue which was an amazing pigment to use in the sky, but unfortunately it is toxic to the environment. To depict the sky in this painting I started at the horizon line with a dilutes wash of phthalo blue (PB-15), and then mixed in some indo blue (PB60) which is very dark and cool. Getting the consistency right was tricky. The final result is an electric bright blue sky. In fact, it is the best blue sky I have ever painted on location. Maybe change is a good thing?
5 x 7 rough press, watercolour. March 2020
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