Benny Sports Complex, NDG, Montreal

As the heat wave continues I am waking up earlier and earlier to take advantage of the slightly cooler weather in the morning. This scene was done yesterday very early morning at the Benny Sports Complex, which is set to open partially on this coming Monday. The brick is a most interesting shade, a dark neutral magenta which can be captured with venetian red, some pink paint (PR122), and a touch of grey (dilute carbon black). The value was so low but I had to keep it looking bright since it was in direct sun. To complete the illusion, the shadows were painted over top which were even darker and gave the main bricks a luminous glow.

This month I have been rethinking how to paint shadows. Some shadows work fine the way I used to do it, like concrete which takes a blue-violet shadow. But the trees, I am using a dark lime yellow, or neutral grey-green which makes it look a lot more authentic and luminous, like here with the tree notice how intense the shadows are. The grass shadow is actually closer to an olive green or brown. The brick shadow is a blackened version of the brick colour. It will take some more practice to learn how to see the correct colour, and then capture the correct colour which are two different things. In the past, I didn't know what colour I was seeing, although I could capture shadows pretty well using instinct. The paintings have reached a whole new level of light and shadow, I really feel the intensity of the landscape in these small studies.

5 x 7" cold press (cut pieces from 22 x 30" arches),  watercolour, June 2020