After Sauvé Station I made it up to Henri-Bourassa station by following the Rue Lajeunesse bike path. The bike path is really serious there, they built it for the electric bikes that are now available for rent, they are part of the bixi bike system. The path was basically like a small highway for bikes with complete protection from traffic. I could go full speed, on my normal human-powed bike, without worry. Henri-Bourassa station used to be the terminus before they completed the under-river connection to Laval, which now has three stations. They are talking about connecting the orange line in Laval to create a giant circle. However, the blue line east extension is the next priority.
For the painting I had to work fast because the weather was really starting to turn. They had just thrown down a bunch of new grass seed for some reason, and the pigeons were really tucking into it. Luckily they stayed put long enough for me to capture the birds in various poses. It reminded me of the time I painted the pigeons near the Peel Station. To make the dramatic sky I established a moist base of yellow ochre (PY43) then painted in the cloud shadows wet-in-wet. I actually used the same mixture for the cloud shadows as for the pigeons. It was a dark slightly neutral blue-violet. Some of the pigeons also had shimmering magenta and green feathers on their neck, you can see that on the one at the bottom right which seems to be staring at you.
The next week I went back and made three more paintings of the station.
Henri-Bourassa station, Pigeons, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, October 2021 (No. 2930)
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