Jolicoeur Metro Station, green line, southwest borough, Lasalle

On the weekend I made it down to Jolicoeur station after perusing google maps the night before to find good places to sit. When I arrived, the entire station was surrounded by a construction fence complete with blue tarpaulin blocking the view. Finally I found a spot to sit where the entrance was visible, the overhang had a bright orange underneath, and the rest of the structure was a black monolith. I wanted this scene to be inviting, so the construction barriers are minimized in the design, and the sidewalk stones lead the viewer to the entrance. The only signs of life are a lone tree and some grass in the cracks. 7 x 10" cold press, watercolour, June 2020

Resigning to the situation, next I painted the construction barrier with the metro building tucked behind it. The was a gratuitous amount of graffiti on the tarpaulin, so I added my own signature scrawling over the concrete support. The building itself was actually a very dark tinted glass that could be easily captured with raw umber, carbon black, and tints of yellow ochre. Storm clouds were brewing but luckily the rain held off. 7 x 10" cold press, watercolour, June 2020

Wanting to capture the orange overhang, I found a spot in the corner by the back entrance to the station but unfortunately it smelled of urine so I remained standing for the painting. Big storm clouds loomed in the distance giving the trees an eerie glow that I captured with mix of yellow and black that created a greenish tint. Getting the angles right was tough, I had made a preliminary sketch to figure it out. After my experience  at Angrignon, I put benzimida orange on my palette and it came in handy here for the orange roof. These 70's era stations sure like to use orange.
In the background, barely discernible, are tennis courts which were in full swing. 5 x 6.5" cold press, watercolour, June 2020

Here is the sketch book page that I completed on location shortly before doing the paintings. I do not use pencil or pen on the actual watercolour paper, these preliminary sketches are in a separate book. They have been a great help for capturing the complex angles and architecture. I plan to combine the studies into 'The 27 stations of the green line metro, Montreal' series, station #3 Jolicoeur.