Next stop, Lasalle! Well not exactly, the Lasalle metro station is confusingly located in Verdun because of the street called Lasalle. He was a popular explorer who had many things named after him, I suppose that makes this painting called the Lasalle Latrine? The port-o-lets are there for people who stay outside a lot of the day and need to go somewhere. Only a few metro stations have actual toilette inside, and those that do put them behind the turnstile. I am noticing these port-o-lets as a feature of several stations. Another common feature is orange, here it provides the colour of a major architectural element that separates the two entrances (even though the two entrances go into the same room). This was done very early, I got to location by about 6:15 AM and the sun was just barely over the tree line, a halo of light was shining down on the port-o-let and creating an interesting orange highlight on the building. The metro sign and most of the other elements except for the bus were in shadow.
Reflections are tough to paint, lately I have been really trying to get them in there. The reflection is a warped, darkened, tinted, and transparent version of the real thing, which merges with whatever is behind the glass. In this example, the metro sign and port-o-let were visible on an angle in the reflection of the door and glass over the door. Another big challenge was getting that orange right- it seemed to change every time I looked at it, maybe as the sun was rising the tint was changing. It was orange, but had an almost purple or magenta shimmer to it. I can 'feel colours' rather than see them, so I know what the feeling was but can neither describe it, or accurately capture it with paint. This is closer that I got to the correct orange though, it gives the impression of that 1970's orange sensibility. 8 x 10" cold press, watercolour, June 2020
As I was writing this blog I forgot there were three more things to share! Guess it will be a long one. I've been editing a PhD thesis all day so my brain is rotten and boiled by 40 humidex and no air conditioner. I'm also still adjusting to the early rising. This painting was one of those 'gut check' paintings, I knew the design elements would be strong but the values had to be bang on for it to work. I must have got about 3/4 finished and it looked bad- the tree was not there yet and the concrete looked off. I knew it would work though and once the yellow-black-green was in, and the detail lines went on the brick and interlocking bricks, the whole thing came together. You can see the orange triangle in front of the bus, it is the other side of the element in the first painting. 8 x 10" cold press, watercolour, June 2020
I shifted over to the back of the station hoping to find another gem like the
'pigeon castle' at de l'Eglise, but the scene was rather less interesting. I liked the shadow colour, a lilac shade on top of the toasty warm concrete. I completed the scene with an orange brick wall and the yellow posts. 5 x7" cold press, watercolour, June 2020
Another view, from the front, shows the strange shape of this station, like a cereal box held up by an orange triangle. I like how the grooves in the concrete run perpendicular to the architectural lines. The day before at de l'Eglise I was not totally satisfied with the
quality of the paintings because I rushed them out to beat the heat. This time, I
got up earlier, and took my time to get it right. I was pleased with the different angles and shapes created by the Lasalle station. This is right next to Cilei's sister's apartment too, if they got up earlier they may have seen me!
8 x10" pencil, sketch book, June 2020
One of the best stations you have painted so far. I loved the angles captured by your brush. Bravo!
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