A few more memories from London Ontario

 

London Ontario exists on the confluence of the Thames river which snakes its way through the city. A cycling path was built up and down its shore line, providing for great views of the fall leaves and exciting reflections on the water surface. This scene captures the spirit of the landscape, it was cold but sunny when I did this, must have been late fall.

Thames River Trees Embankment, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 1996 (No. 0458)

 

This is a portrait of the enormous residence hall where many students (including myself) stay in the first or second year. Also called the zoo by the way. It seems to soar over top of the beige and olive-green trees. The dark neutral shadow side looks right, must have been a complex mix of alizarin crimson and other neutralizing cool paints.

Saugeen Maitland Residence UWO, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 1996  (No. 0459)

The University of Western Ontario campus is quite amazing, in this scene you see the overpass between two of the buildings, seen from atop the main hill. It is a very delicate painting, with wispy branches, perhaps the season was just between winter and spring. The tunnel reflection is neat, almost photographic in its likeness. Another neat painting from UWO was the Mustangs scoreboard in winter. It seems like just yesterday I was anticipating my departure from Bolton, going to UWO, site unseen to start a new chapter in my life.

Passageway UWO Campus , watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 1997 (No. 0461)

 

This scene was from a local park with a kids pool, it was empty at the time. It was a challenging painting, I remember thinking about how to get the light-on-dark details of the chair frame. These kinds of paintings would steadily build my confidence as a landscape painter.

Lifeguard Chair,  watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 1997 (No. 0469)

The sprawling apartment buildings were springing up all over the old farm land. This painting was nearly ruined by rainfall, but in the end it looked amazing. The little dots are where the rain hit the moist painting. You can only get this effect through pure chance. Now if it starts raining I try to get a few water drops on it just for effect, like in the recent bench under pine tree painting.

Apartments Rainy Day, watercolour 5 x 8" cold press, 1997 (No. 0470)