Square-Victoria-OACI Station, Orange Line Metro

 

The next stop on my Saturday painting trip was the Square Victoria-OACI station which has a landmark open air entrance modeled after the metro in Paris. This entrance is adorned with intricate metal-work, not a straight line to be found. The metal was a pale green oxidized copper with yellow/orange signage and red bulbs on the antennas. Even the concrete support had an undulating, organic form. This was not the first time I sat on the location of a famous metro entrance, I once painted the St. Enoch station in Scotland. Like the Scotland scene, this too seemed impossible. The painting began with a rough outline, then a filling on of the background. The metal-work was created with a neutral green mix of yellow ochre (PY43) phthalo green (PG36) and a touch of carbon black (PBk6), then shadowed with perylene green (PBk31). The natural elements were built up in successive layers and then textured with brush work. I finished with the stone inlays on the ground.

Metropolitan Entrance, Square-Victoria-OACI Station, Orange Line Metro, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, July 2021 (No. 2899)

 

From google maps I had found another entrance to the station, which was less picturesque than the last one. To capture the true feeling of this station entrance and its immediate environment I sat just under the front door sign looking straight up. The angles were dizzying! To get the perspective I continually held the paper up to the scene and pulled it away quickly. By doing this repeatedly you can see if your drawing frame is okay. There may have been a few mistakes on the perspective but you really do get that feeling, like you are going into the station and taking one last look up before descending. 

Looking Up, Square-Victoria-OACI Station, Orange Line Metro,watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2021 (No. 2758)

 

It seemed time to go home, and then one last entrance caught my eye. It is on a wide street, partly blocked off by a construction project. All the cones gave me a protected spot to stand and make this painting safely. The traffic was steadily going by, even a cop car. I wonder what they all thought about the guy making a painting out of the back of his bike pack? The reflection was the main draw here, it is always difficult with the dark shadow scenes. I got the traffic and yet another construction project int he composition too. This entrance looked closed, it was fenced off and nobody was going in or out. At the end of the day, I noticed how my dirty water was a thick grey, rather than the green that I get when painting nature. The dirty water gives an approximation of the average colour of the locations I painted. Starting in 2020 I have been keeping the dirty water and disposing of it at home instead of pitching it on location.

Reflection, Square-Victoria-OACI Station, Orange Line Metro, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2021 (No. 2925)