Making good time on along Plamondon, I caught a glimpse of purple irises growing between the sidewalk and a fence. Speeding by on my bicycle, it occurred to me that Van Gogh would have stopped to paint that. And so I found a decent little nook beside a fire hydrant to stand and paint the scene. Of course I used the Van Gogh watercolour paints that I recently purchased from Kama pigments with the metal palette, with the addition of indothrene blue (PB60 Winsor and Newton), quinacridone magenta (PV19 Schmincke), and raw sienna warm shade (PBr7 Stone Ground Paint Co.). Glad I brought along those colours, they really helped capture the violet irises and golden warm sunlight. Like Van Gogh's famous painting Irises, I cropped out the sky and focused on the flowers. To make it a Darlington I had to include the sidewalk too!
Irises next to Sidewalk, 5 x 7" cold press, watercolour, May 2021 (No. 2647)
Still on my way to the final destination, I rode by the Plamondon station of the orange line metro. There was not very much real estate to stand and paint, but I found a nook beside some recycling bins. Unfortunately a big SUV parked in front of me partially blocking the scene, and the people came out and met friends on the sidewalk, stood right there in front of me talking very loudly indeed. Luckily I had my medical mask on just to be on the safe side. They took interest in the art and said it was good. Then they offered me a Krispy creme doughnut to which I said no thanks. This painting was a test of concentration, but I am very focused when painting. I rushed the background a little, but kind of like the blurred effect it created, like a photographic-style depth of field.
Update: In October of 2021, I made one more painting of a back entrance of Plamondon during a pastel sunset.
Plamondon Station, Orange Line Metro, 8 x 10" cold press, watercolour, May 2021 (No. 2648)
A few more kilometers and I made it to Côte-Vertu Station the orange line terminus. Last year I completed the 27 stations of the green line metro line, starting in Angrignon, and ending on Honoré-Beaugrand Station. One of my goals this year is to complete at least half of the Orange line stations, I already bagged a few such as Villa Maria station, Vendome, Beaubien, and a the cross-over stations like Snowdon and UQAM. I would like to include people and cars in the scenes but I need to practice a bit more, it has been awhile since I painted these type of complex urban scenes. To make the incredible brick colour I used iron oxide red (PBr7/PR101 mix of Uradori Red Ochre and Sennelier Red Brown), and the caput mortum (PR101 Sennelier) that I recently picked up at Deserres and used to make a painting of the parking lot. It felt a little excessive to be buying yet another earth paint, but after using caput for a few paintings it is turning out to be extremely useful. The brick colour you see in the painting is just what it was like, a deep red/rust brick that was back lit by a strong sun. The caput paint is a dull dark red with a bit of granularity, the mixtures have to be stirred frequently. I've been carrying cobalt blue again on my palette, you see how useful it is to get the window frames. The whole face of the building was in shadow. Luckily I found good landscaped boulder to sit on under a tree it was a great location. Some people watched me paint and asked some questions. Now I tell people that I am a blogger and on Instagram!
Update: I made five more paintings of Côte-Vertu Stationin November 2021.
Côte-Vertu Station, Orange Line Metro, 8 x 10" cold press, watercolour, May 2021 (No. 2656)
After perusing the google map on my smart phone, I found the next station Du College, which has a main building, and a secondary entrance that looks like newer construction. There were cool angles behind the station but the lighting was not right, so I did this view of the metro sign casting a shadow and a glimpse of the entrance. The shadow caught my eye- I thought 'can I do that?' You may notice how smooth and bright this painting appears, that is because it is done on hot press watercolour paper, the same brand (Fabriano) as the cold press one I have been using. It handles completely differently, the paint absorbs quickly, and the brush strokes are really consequential. It seems best to paint fast and confidently. There are 31 stations in the orange line metro and I have painted 8 of them, so that leaves 24 to go!
Update: I returned to du College to make two more paintings in November of 2021.
Du College Station, Orange Line Metro, 5 x 7" hot press, watercolour, May 2021 (No. 2649)
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