Not out of the woods yet. NDG, Montreal

Tarzan is probably doing okay in the pandemic being naturally isolated and up in the trees. I went to this spot down by the train station in NDG to find some shade and stay away from the sidewalk. The view here is not too interesting but there is a bus stand where the bus waits for a few minutes before commencing their route. When painting busses, cars, animals, things that can move, you have to finish it first. I got the outline down and most of the key colours in time, then the bus took off. My view was partially obscured by several parked cars that I omitted from the scene.

The new brown paints I have were put to good use here. Raw umber natural, a straw-syrup coloured tan, was used to neutralize the greens, and to create the cut tree stump. Raw umber dark shade, a dark chocolate colour, was used for the trees along with some other tints. Venetian red was used for the brick colour with various tints, and burnt sienna for the neutral greys. This year I started using earth colours more starting with the Meldrum painting. The back lights on the bus are pure hues, ferrari red and isoindo yellow, which really pop against the neutral surroundings.

7 x 10" rough press, May 2020