Papineau station has a very complex architecture, when I was researching the location I used google satellite and saw that it is a quarter circle with two interlocking rectangles. From the ground view it is like a wheel of cheese made of bricks. First I made a pencil sketch of this scene on sketchbook paper, then I did the painting. I used a small number 4 brush with dilute carbon black to make the outline. To get the proportions right I held the paper in front of me and moved it up and down to see where the building's ends, top and bottom should be. It was very difficult to get all the lines right but the overall effect is quite good. I threw in the bixi bike stand, and was pleased that it worked out okay. One element that is neat, is the Jacques Cartier bridge in the top right, there were cars on it, and the occasional bike since there is a wide sidewalk on the bridge for pedestrians and cyclists. 8 x 10" cold press, watercolour, July 2020
Next up was a frontal angle looking under the quarter circle overhang. The windows are highly reflective mirrors almost, and you could see the bus reflecting in them. As usual the bus took off in ten minutes and I had to fill in the reflection from memory. To cover the shadow area I used good old iron oxide brown/red with indothrene blue and some of the purple, and spread it using a hog's hair brush. Usually I only use the hog's hair brush to clean the palette but lately I have been finding it very useful for quickly covering larger areas. The lines were crazy on this painting, it reminds me of the Guy-Concordia painting under the overhang. 8 x10" cold press, watercolour, July 2020
For the last scene I was tempted to capture the shape of the structure from up above. Having seen the cyclists going on the Jacques Cartier bridge, I ventured up and around to where the bike path loops up onto the bridge. It is safe enough, a high barrier separates from car traffic, and a high fence prevents falling off the bridge (in fact it is a suicide-prevention fence with impossible to climb loops on top). I tucked myself into a corner on the bridge where there is a speed bariier (to prevent the bikes from going too fast), so I had a nice protected area to stand and paint. Unfortunately I had lost one my ear plugs along the way, and the noise from the trucks was outrageous, I blocked my ear when they came by. The bridge also shakes and rattles every time a truck passes. so the painting was jumping around. The scene shows the roof of the Metro (grocery store) in the front, and the Papineau Metro (station) in the middle, with Montreal buildings and Mont Royal in the background. I could really see the shape of the station and the glass pyramid thing on top. 6 x 7.5" cold press, watercolour, July 2020
Here is the sketch I did before painting the first one. Instead of bring the whole sketch book I have been cutting pages out recently and just bringing a few sheets. Some unfortunate fellow was walking across the street with a bag and a facemask, and he tripped on the curb and splashed in a puddle, landing on the sidewalk. I was going to help him but he picked himself up and seemed unhurt but embarrassed. So I put that in the sketch at the bottom. I noticed Hiroshige the old Japanese master used to put pedestrians in his scenes doing funny things, like their butts sticking out of their pants or falling down. 8 x 11" sketch book pencil. July 2020
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