Paint where they aint, Saturday Painting Trip

 

The weather was unseasonably warm today, like summer but without the green! I hoped to make it down to Ile Jean Drapeau but the Lachine Canal path was teeming with people so I veered west and found a spot to paint a few meters off the path. The scene looks north towards Mont Royal, with the dilapidated factory in the foreground, the same one with the pink house on top, which I painted before but you dont see the same angle here. I wanted to feature the nature, you see the gravely grassy growth all over as the buildings become one with the land. I used the grey ochre for the ground with raw sienna throughout. Burnt sienna was used for the bricks.

Ville St. Henri Gentrification, 5 x 7" cold press, watercolour, April 2021 (No. 2581b)

 

Finding green space in Montreal is always a challenge, there was a small lot planted with trees and flower boxes, some yellow flowers were growing and sparrows were hanging out. It just takes a little green space for the animals to have some habitat. I composed the scene so that what little nature was present occupied most of the painting. The background was a challenge to fit in between the trees. It was nice to paint in warm weather because the paint dries quick and I can do fancier techniques as compared to the winter.

Ville St. Henri Flower Box 5 x 7" cold press, watercolour, April 2021 (No. 2583b)

 

There were a few scenes but I had to find spots away from the people even though I had my medical mask on. This is done in a 'green alley' the city has reconfigured laneways throughout the city to contain planters, trees, flowers etc. I liked how the shadows were radiating on the ground. It was also irresistible to paint the yellow ochre bricks. In fact all of the earth colours came into play here, the tree bark, bricks, mortar, wood, dirt, sidewalk all used earth paints. The green was phthalo green. As I suspected, most of Montreal can be painted with brown, green, grey, blue, and orange for the pylons! 

Ville St. Henri Tree Shadows, 5 x 7" cold press, watercolour, April 2021 (No. 2590b)