Another scene of opportunity, this is St. Jacques street but it was totally shut off due to construction at the new off ramp to highway 720. It was also labour day so the whole area was silent, like deserted, compared to the normal hectic highway. I found it funny that these signs were saying no crossing, but I could walk wherever I wanted! The traffic light was permanently stuck on red as you see in the painting. Recently I decided to include cars and people in the scenes, in this case it was stick figures on the signs. I painted a few here before but from different angles, for example the Van Gogh-inspired view. The illuminated traffic light is impossible to depict in a painting because it has an internal luminescence. But you can still create the illusion of light- the red is very high value (not dark) and I specifically made the red of the traffic sign circles very dark and rich to provide contrast. There is also very subtle red glow reflecting off the black lamp post. Finally, I included the green tarp element in the background which gives an optical complement. All together the design choices make the red traffic light look illuminated.
Another note, I used the 'electric lilac' mix on the signs which were in shadow. That is PV55 purple and PG7 green which creates a shimmering indigo colour, almost grey.
5 x 7" hot press, watercolour, September 2020
No comments:
Post a Comment