It was such a nice evening to do a few paintings around town. The sun had set, leaving a ruby red sky filled with purplish clouds. It was impossible to see this scene directly without standing on Cavendish, a busy street, so I kind of poked out every now and then to see the colours. A city truck, the kind with the big arrows to divert traffic showed up and provided some cover for me, which was a nice gesture. A confused pedestrian asked me if I worked for the city. But the driver was just picking up some junk food and drove off. What a job that would be, to stop traffic at will and make paintings.
Sunset on Cavendish, 5 x 7" cold press, watercolour, June 2021 (No. 2678)
The sky turned a dark blue with shades of pink, the buildings became almost black, and the artificial lights provided interesting shadows. By the time I finished this painting it was night time, and the store front gained more prominence. It was a conscious decision to paint this at dusk or night because during the day it is a rather dull corner of a building, but in the dark the various light sources create drama. The pizza sign is lit from behind, the store interior is fully illuminated, the neon 'ouvert' sign is prominent, the street light casts a whitish glow, and the remains of the sunset made a dim lighting on the road. One adjustment, I painted the foliage in a pure black (PBk6) with accents of perylene black (PBk31) and touch of yellow.
Atlas Pizza at Dusk, 5 x 7" cold press, watercolour, June 2021 (No. 2679)
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