Distant Blues, Pink Wildflowers

 

The day started with a bike ride up the mountain from the northwest side, which takes you to the U de M campus. After pondering how to paint distant blues, it was time to put theory to the test. I started with a base of indo blue (PB60) with touches of phthalo blue-green (PG7) and carbon black (PBk6). The closer the foliage was, I added more benzi yellow (PY154), phthalo green (PG36), and perylene green (PBk31) for shadows. Colours aside, the strategy was to create neutralized blue on the horizon, and gradually move it to a saturated chartreuse in the foreground. One problem I noticed, the indo blue and carbon black become much lighter when they dry, so I need to apply it darker. The walking sign was embellished a little, its a lively walker! When I arrived at the top of the hill on my bike, one of the 'professional' cyclists gave me a thumbs up for encouragement. They probably go up and down all day without breaking a sweat.

Université de Montréal, Arrêt, 5 x 7" cold press, watercolour, June 2021 (No. 2689)

This view was looking northwards, I could see even further and wider into the horizon. I worked from bottom to top and tried to amplify blue yellow contrasts. The buildings in the distance were done using the neutral blue-violet that I worked out in the last blog post. Sure enough, the buildings look brick red even though they aren't painted with brick red. On the left is one of the faces of a tall building, it was done with yellow ochre (PY43) and touches of umber. I was standing on a ridge, close to one of the entrances to École Polytechnique. That is where the 1989 misogynist terrorist mass shooting took place. It was a sombre reminder. I emphasized the pink wildflowers to symbolize the women who lost their lives that day.

Université de Montréal, Les Fleurs Sauvages Roses 5 x 7" cold press, watercolour, June 2021 (No. 2690)