Jarry Park and Orange Line Station, Periods of Rain

The forecast called for rain, rain and more rain. Periods of rain is what they called it. Undaunted, I biked to Jarry Station on the other side of Mont Royal in the borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension. Atop the station is a community housing apartment called Habitat Jarry, it is a towering monolith of orange bricks and reflective windows. As I sized up the scene, a flock of pigeons filled the sky and headed across the street. The rain was just misting for this painting until the end when it picked up.
 

Jarry Station, Orange Line Metro, When Pigeons Fly, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, October 2021 (No. 2909)
 

 

Underneath a concrete shelter, there was a colourful mural of pigs flying. The composition shows a corner of the mural juxtaposed with the actual sky. If pigeons can fly then so can pigs. I used a lot of carbon black in the outlines and the mixes to give a feeling of gloom and rain. To punch up the colours, I used burnt red ochre (PR102) and pyrol orange (PO73) in the bricks. One of the houses across the street was pink, which was done with PR122 quinacridone magenta.

Jarry Station, Orange Line Metro, When Pigs Fly, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2021 (No. 2835)
 

This was the first painting I did on the way to the station. The rain was really coming down and the only shelter was a big tree, and the umbrella. It was quite tricky to have an umbrella stuffed into the front of my jacket at the same time as painting with both hands occupied, especially with the wind. I got a lot of paint on my hands and gear. There was a baseball diamond in the scene, but you would hardly know it. At least you get the feeling of being stuck in a rain storm in Jarry Park!

 Jarry Park, Rainy Day, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2021 (No. 2836)