Some Paint Tests and Thoughts

Every June there has been a facebook thing where they ask watercolour painters to post 30 paintings in 30 days. I only go on facebook once a week at most, so I didn't post there very often but still did more than 30 paintings. In fact I was averaging 40 paintings a month so 30 seemed a bit low, but the main idea was to challenge yourself as an artist. In the past I had some stretches of time where I was not painting much so I understand the kind of 'painters block' that can occur and maybe initiatives like that are okay. For something different, I thought about doing 30 black and white watercolour paintings using just lamp black (PBk6), graphite grey (PBk11) and phthalo blue red shade (PB15). Here is a small test of that restricted palette, it really tests your skill at producing values without much colour. 

Black and Blue Palette Test, watercolour 8 x 10" Fabriano Artistico, May 2022

 

 

On the weekend I attempted the Farine Five Roses mill at night and came up with good results. While on location I had to figure out how to paint the red neon sign and tried a dark indo blue sky (PB60) with a mix of pyrol red (PR254) and benzi orange (PO62). Unfortunately I didn't have pyrol orange (PO73) on my palette at the time. The pyrol orange is by Winsor and Newton, it is called Winsor Orange Red Shade. In the test painting shown above, which I just did on our kitchen table/studio, I used indo blue plus varying amounts of pyrol orange in the sky, and mixed pyrol orange with pyrol red for the neon sign. The black interior of the sign is lamp black with perylene maroon (PR179). Next time I am out painting neon signs at night I think I have it figured out!

Farine Neon Sign Test, watercolour 8 x 10" Fabriano Artistico, May 2022

A Fine Spring Evening Around Verdun

After some decent Chinese food take out with Fritz I took off on the bike and found this scene of the sun set in Verdun. It was a bit of luck that the painting worked out, I had to apply the orange-yellow highlights and sunset first, hope it dried, then apply the successive layers of darks and details. The trick to getting a scene like this to work is to apply some dark middle values such as the grass and trees which make the light highlights pop.

Sunset in Verdun, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3123b)

 

Turning right out of Verdun the bike path takes you down to the massive Farine Five Roses with its prominent silos and adjacent water from the reservoir at the end of the canal. The sign on top was a bright red neon that turned on and off every few seconds. It is not possible to paint neon on a dark sky background, but I attempted the feat by applying a fairly dark sky, then adding pyrol red with benzi orange at medium dilution. The sign worked out okay, and the rest of the scene is really neat, you can feel that cold night atmosphere permeated by the amber lights under the overpass. I've never made water using orange and black before, that was neat.

Farine Five Roses at Dusk, watercolour 8 x 10" Fabriano Artistico, May 2022 (No. 3022)

 

On the way back home I rode through Atwater Market and saw this scene of the market stalls and cityscape in the background. It seemed the impossible painting, to capture that much contrast with watercolour at night. With wearing the headlamp I could better judge the values and subtle colours under the numerous lamps that are strung out over the stalls. The gloomy dusk sky was done with yellow ochre (PY43) on the horizon, then working in layers of blue (PB15 and PB60), and a touch of carbon black at the very top.

Atwater Market at Dusk, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3126a)

A Fine Spring Day Around Verdun

 Between NDG and Verdun lies the sprawling Parc Angrignon, a favorite of picnicers and partiers. I've painted there occasionally over the years usually on my way to somewhere. The last I remember was during a cold winters day when I rode my little winter bike all the way down to make frozen paintings. To make the grass really glow here I applied nearly pure yellow (PY154) then tinted with a thin layer of yellow plus green (PG36). The water base was indo blue (PB60) gently applied across the paper to create the sparkle effect, and some phthalo blue (PB15) to get the sky reflections.

Pond with Walking Path, Parc Angrignon, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3125a)

 

A bike path winds its way across the north part of Verdun following the aquaduct which is unseen behind a steep berm of grass on the left of this scene. Where the path turns you see the wrought iron fence and stylish structures of the water works facility. One of the sky scrapers in the background appears to have new solar panels that reflect an intense turquoise in the sun. I liked how the brick fence posts, the brick tower, and the skyscrapers all had similar shapes but differing scales.

Bike Path with Water Works, Verdun, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3122b)

When I last painted Lasalle Station there was a prominent port-o-let toilette at the entrance. This time the port-o-let was just to the left of this scene but I decided to not include it in the composition. The interesting angles converged on the bus and the metro sign in a series of interlocking triangles. There is plenty of light and shadow here to give you the feel of a blue sky spring day. I did a better job of the orange wall this time by using a mixture of pyrol red (PR254) and benzi orange (PO62), then gently scraping some darker orange over top for texture.

Orange Line Metro Lasalle Station with Bus, Verdun, watercolour 8 x 10" Fabriano Artistico, May 2022 (No. 3025a)

River of Gold

After a busy day of painting on a cool sunny day, I made a quick palette cleanser. The turquoise was left over from a painting I did of Finland where there was an aurora borealis. Many of the elements here are inspired by the old Japanese print maker Hiroshige. He liked to flatten out the scenes and have the foreground elements stretch out from the bottom of the picture to the top of the picture. A little wooden foot bridge offers an avenue to explore. If you look to the left of the bridge and use your imagination, you will see a giant claw foot belonging to a feathered-leg. Even giant chicken monsters need to go out for a stroll every now and then.

River of Gold, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, May 2022 (No. 3039a)

Dépanneur Yue

As I rode back home from downtown Montreal, the sun was setting in Ville St. Henri. There is a characteristic dépanneur along Courcelle street a the corner of Palm Avenue that always seems to be in shadow when I ride past, but at that moment it was catching the setting sun. Since the train was crossing down the street and traffic was stopped, I decided to attempt the scene of Dépanneur Yue. The brick on the left side was done with red brown (PR101/PBr7) and carbon black, in the middle with red brown and yellow ochre (PY43), and on the right with red brown and pyrol orange (PR254). In this way I could infuse the brick with a variety of colours to symbolize the setting sun. The last things to do were the details in the windows and door, which is always the fun part. I fill in the dark portions first, leaving little squares and shapes open, then add whatever colour looks nice. The displays in the windows of these stores is always a colourful clutter.

Dépanneur Yue, Ville St. Henri, watercolour 8 x 10" Fabriano Artistico, May 2022 (No. 3025b)

Under the Overpass

When composing a scene it can help to use triangles. Often the triangles can be found in the foreground like an angled road or a grassy embankment. In this case, the highway overpass provided the triangle shape in the top left. It took a little while for me to find this scene, I slowly circled around a few times on my studio-bike before setting up under the highway just next to the bike path. The bike path here connects the Lachine Canal to the St Lawrence river and eventually goes out to Parc de Dieppe and St. Helen's Island. Even though most of the scene was in shadow, there were streaks of light coming through, and more light reflecting off the massive Farine Five Roses structure that you can just see to the top right. I quite like this painting, it is reminiscent of Edward Hopper who painted desolate Americana scenes.
 

Under the Overpass, near Farine Five Roses, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3121b)

Jacques-Cartier Place

 

After painting in Parc Dieppe I looped back around the port and did this painting of the main tourist drag called Jacques-Cartier Place where art meets coffee. Actually there seemed to be a lot of food and good cheer going around, never mind the Pandemic. To capture this amount of detail I started with the form and the architecture first, then worked on the tangle of art displays, pedestrians and diners under the awnings. There was not one focal point, just the whole painting working together like a jigsaw puzzle. This new paper is alright, it holds the colour reasonably well but has a bit of a rougher texture than a typical cold press. When painting scenes like this, the main goal is to convey the energy of the scene, like poetry or music in a way.

Jacques-Cartier Place, Art and Cafes, watercolour 8 x 10" Fabriano Artistico, May 2022 (No. 3026)

Saturday Painting, Pick a Direction

Today's plan was to pick a direction and go. I had Parc de Dieppe in mind, it is a small peninsula park in the St. Lawrence near old Montreal. Unfortunately I took a wrong turn and ended up at this factory near Verdun on a bike path that goes nowhere. It was at least worth doing a painting.

Factory near Verdun, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3121a)
 

 

One way to get to old port is to take this path to Nun's island and then find the Champlain ice control bridge, but that would have been a round about way and I went their the last two weekends. Instead I made this quick painting of the curving path and other urban elements.

Bike Route to Nun's Island, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3122a)

 

This scene is from one of the locks on the Lachine Canal. A small waterfall flows under the bridge where the bike path turns. The green painted bridge in the background is bridge Charlevoix. In the fall this would be a great location because it is surrounded by tall trees.

Locks and Waterfall, Lachine Canal, watercolour 8 x 10" Fabriano Artistico, May 2022 (No. 3023a)

 Along the Canal you still see a few of the old structures that are no longer in use. This was a swiveling train bridge but has long since fell into disrepair. In the background is a new highway overpass but it did not seem to be open yet. As I painted, a commuter VIA train went by and I tried to squeeze it in towards the right middle.

Old and New Bridges, Lachine Canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3123a)

 

Finally I made it to Parc Dieppe, and found this view of the Cirque du Soliel tent. I could hear music and people going OHH and AHH from across the river. On the way back I went through old Montreal and there were throngs of people exiting the tent and heading home. We have tickets to go see them later in the summer.

Cirque tent across River, from Parc de Dieppe, watercolour 8 x 10" Fabriano Artistico, May 2022 (No. 3023b)

 

At the very tip of the park you can get right down to water level. There were a lot of people fishing down there, I just set up my bike-studio at an open spot and made this painting, they didn't bother me at all. In the background is Parc La Ronde the amusement park. I tried to capture the different currents in the river, but missed on some highlights. Definitely worth practicing some more.

View of Cartier Bridge, from Parc de Dieppe, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3124a)

Blossoms Reflecting in Pond

 

I recently picked up some more watercolour paper at Avenue des Arts in Westmount and stopped to make this quick painting of the pond in Westmount park. The tree blossoms were reflecting in the shallow pond water which was a brown-green colour. I painted the pink trees and their reflections at the same time, then surrounded them with the background and pond elements. As it dried I applied a very fast glaze of the pond colour on top of the reflections to give them a blurred look. Then I finished the painting with the textural brush strokes and shadowing. 

The paper for this painting was the same Fabriano I always use for doing small paintings. If you saw my last blog for dépanneur yo yo, that was using a different kind of Fabriano paper called artistico. It is 140 lb cold press, so very similar to the d'Arches or Winsor Newton cold press which are no longer available to to supply issues. I also picked some Strathmore paper, unfortunately they were out of the nice Aquarius, but had the 400 series and Gemini papers. Since I am using so many different papers I am making a note in each blog about the paper.

Blossoms Reflecting in Pond, Westmount Park, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press Fabriano block, May 2022 (No. 3120)

Dépanneur Yo Yo

As the sun goes down the sky turns a dark blue with greyish clouds. The lights in the windows are glowing rectangles of yellow-orange light. Internal sources of light such as street lamps and the bright lights of a dépanneur cast dark shadows throughout the scene. To paint Dépanneur Yo Yo, I set up on the opposite corner with my bike headlamp turned around to provide some light on the paper. Shortly after establishing the outlines of the scene a person went into the store leaving their dog tied up to the security railing. Then the Montreal commuter train rumbled by in the background. These are the kinds of details one can not get from a photograph, they happen on location. The sky this time was a darkened cyan (PB15 blue plus some PBk6 black) blended with pure indo blue (PB60) to the top of the painting. The clouds were red brown (PR101/PBr7) with indo blue and a touch of magenta (PR122).

Dépanneur Yo Yo with Dog and Commuter Train, watercolour 8 x 10" Fabriano Artistico, May 2022 (No. 3024)

Dépanneur O'Brien

On the way back from Perry Island, I stopped at this scene which I noticed on the way up. It is a very small dépanneur (aka corner store) with a small apartment on the top floor. Behind the store, a prominent overpass is being constructed. I liked the way this building seemed to be nestled in among the road, structures, and impressive tangle of cables on its roof. Cilei said the other day I should do a series of dépanneur paintings, it would be a classic Quebec thing to paint. Over the years I have done several including in Verdun, the Mile End, and right here in NDG on a cold day.

Dépanneur O'Brien, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3119b)

Perry Island

Perry island is a tiny picnic island located in the Prairie River north shore of Montreal. I rode up the O'Brien route which intersects with Gouin Boulevard to Mercy Park. The water current is very strong here and I tried to convey the movement of the water and the sparkling light reflections. Prairie river is generally quite shallow and it takes on a muted blue colour with accents of reddish brown and yellows near the shore. The tree reflections also came out a khaki olive brown.

Perry Island vertical, watercolour 6 x 9" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3021)

 

The island has walking paths winding throughout leading to some water access where people fish, and picnic tables. Here you see the north part of the Praire River, so the opposite shore is mainland Laval. The shore is filled with estate houses and private boat docks. I used impressionist brush strokes to convey the light and colour permeating the scene.

Perry Island Oak Tree, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3118a)

 

This time I can confirm that the bridge was functional, a Montreal commuter train rumbled by towards the end of doing this painting. Too bad it hadn't showed up earlier maybe I could have included it in the design. There was a lot to pack in to a small scene, the fresh spring shrubberies, the sparkling fast moving water with reflection, and a complex multi span iron bridge. I quite like the way the water looks, I used un-mixed diluted indo blue (PB60), with streaks of a paint called transparent umber from Schmincke company that looks just like burnt umber. Of course the rusted iron bridge was done with red brown (PR101/PBr7), which is made of iron oxide the same chemical found in rust.

Train Bridge Perry Island, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3119a)

 

 

 

Painting in Paris 1998 part 2

 

From Le Louvre you can see down the Champs-Élysées, there is a mini version of Arc de Triumph called Arc de Triumph du Carrousel. Looking though you see the Egyptian Obelisk, and in the very distance the Arc de Triumph. Every tourist in Paris walks this area and takes a lot of photos, with the exception of a few painters. The amount of detail in these paintings was remarkable, I was very ambitious and inspired to capture the scenes. The gold touches on the top are neat.     

Arc de Triumph du Carrousel, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 1998 (No. 0839)

  

Here is a small segment of the famous museum Le Louvre, I was sitting in an interior square that was all like you see in the painting. It was an overwhelming location but I did my best. The opening under the arched dome is neat, you can see the sky and tree in the distance. A gypsy danced in the courtyard as I painted, a pity I could not include that in the painting.

Le Louvre, watercolour 5 x 7" hot press, 1998 (No. 0838)

 

You may recognize this, it is the leaning tower of Triumph, actually the Arc de Triumph. While the draftsmanship may have been atilt, there is plenty of energy and some key details here like the scraggly tree, classic lamp post, and colourful little tourists.

Arc de Triumph, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 1998 (No. 0841)

 

The most famous of all bridges, and the gaudiest, has to be Pont Alexandre III. It has several massive stone towers topped with golden statues, and elaborate sculptures throughout. In the background is the Grand Palais where they do shows including art shows. I may have bit off more than I could chew for a small painting here, but I knew the only way to get better was to keep trying.
 

Pont Alexandre III, watercolour 5 x 7" hot press, 1998 (No. 0836)

 And here is a close up of the grand entrance to the Grand Palais. They were advertising some kind of show judging by the enormous white banners. To think, the likes of Monet and Cezanne and others had their paintings shown here once. Like literally once, the impressionist painters were not so popular with the main stream academy painters back in the 19^th century.

Grand Palais, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 1998 (No. 0837)

 

I sort of remember this day, it was late and I was tired, but decided to make one more painting. The Seine river unfortunately is not in the view, but it is just over the embankment wall. This location is famous for the book sellers that set up their mini shops along the Seine. In the background are some of the typical 5 story condos build in the classic Parisian style. As I reminisce about my trip to Paris, maybe it would be neat to go back some time. 

Along Seine near Eiffel Tower, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 1998 (No. 0832)

Moving Day in the Fowl Future

Reflecting upon the high-density living accommodations in Montreal which include never-ending condo developments, I came up with this abstract painting depicting a futuristic, science fiction inspired doodle. People stare out of windows found on oddly shaped buildings and an inhabited moon complete with connecting tubes. As usual with these paintings one of the apartment building is shaped like a chicken. I started that motif with an old painting called Chicken #5.

Moving Day in the Fowl Future, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, May 2022 (No. 3019b)

Painting in Paris 1998 part 1

 In Paris you can walk around aimlessly and happen upon some of the most famous buildings. This scene caught my eye, and there was a decent block to sit on as I recall. It is the Invalides building with its famous dome, once a hospital or military building. To paint the dome I applied the golden yellow wash first, with a drop of water to create the reflection, then carefully overlaid the navy blue. I must have made the navy blue with French ultramarine (appropriate under the circumstances) with some alizarin (PR83) and winsor green (PG7). What I find remarkable in retrospect was that I could create the brick colour which is raw sienna, using a complex mix of paints probably based on aureolin yellow (PY40).

Hotel de France Invalides, watercolour 5 x 7" hot press, 1998 (No. 0835)

 

 

This half car was in the hostel courtyard where I was staying (The Three Ducks), along with several kegs and cases of beer. Most of the bricks and plaster in the region were pigmented with yellow ochre and raw sienna, colours that I would not have had in palette until 2020! None the less, I made a range of earth yellows that did the trick. I met people from Bolton Ontario while staying here, what a small world.

Three Ducks, Half Car, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 1998 (No. 831)

Some of the painting were 8 inches because if you cut 5 x 7 inch pieces out of a 22 x 30", you get an extra inch on a few pieces. I would save the 5 x 8" for subjects that needed more height or width. In this case I would have needed a much taller piece of paper indeed. What do I remember about this location? The smell of dog excrement. But that was all part of the charm.

Eiffel Tower, watercolour 5 x 8" cold press, 1998 (No. 0840)

Back then you could walk freely around and under the Eiffel tower, as compared to now it is surrounded by a gated security barrier due to the threat of attack. It was a different world back then. The composition of this painting was very innovative and daring. I remember walking around for some time trying to find an angle and figure out how to capture the scene in a more original fashion that the touristy painting that I made earlier. It was also an early example where I put lots of little people in the scene to give you a sense of the amount of tourists. In the distance you can see the École Militaire with the French flag, and a modern sky scraper.

Under the Eiffel Tower, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 1998 (No. 0834)

 

Just a bit further was the impressive École Militaire which I tried to do justice to with this small painting. There was a lot of detail to convey including the flag, the elaborate roof and facade, the statue of the horse. Prior to this trip I had not encountered such challenging architecture, and I remember at the end of my time in France I never wanted to paint another monument, cathedral, or fancy building ever again! As the trip progressed though my abilities grew. For example the Cathedral in Toledo painted several weeks later was memorable.

 École Militaire, watercolour 5 x 7" hot press, 1998 (No. 0833)

How I Saw It

Here is yet another palette cleanser, a small abstract painting done while cleaning the paint on my palette. After a morning of location painting the palette was quite messy although I do clean it on location with a large hogs hair brush to keeping the mixing areas clean when doing several paintings in succession. The other thing I find appealing about these kinds of paintings is that I can see some really bright colours, and just paint shapes and things that I enjoy. When location painting the artist is taking all the cues from the scene, with the goal to have exacting standards. In this painting, I reminisced about the things I saw on my bike ride and converted the memories into an abstraction. For example, the stacked blocks on the right were the Habitat 67, and the green spans were the old Champlain bridge.
 

How I Saw It, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, May 2022 (No. 3019a)

Saturday painting trip, five bridges and other scenes

 From the vantage point of the south canal you can see five bridges crossing the St. Lawrence, well, four and half actually. In the front is the old green Champlain bridge that they are tearing down span by span, and just behind it is the new Champlain bridge with its suspension wires and tall pillars. Looking into the distance you see the Victoria bridge with its dark brown spans, and seen just underneath it is the small Concorde bridge with its turquoise paint. Of course the furthest bridge is the Cartier bridge. In the foreground you see some of the construction equipment tucked behind the shrubs, and the bike path that goes along the south canal. The idea of painting many bridges in one scene is not new, Hokusai did a famous print called Seven Bridges where he cleverly hid seven bridges in a landscape.

Five Bridges, watercolour 8 x 10" Strathmore aquarius ii, May 2022 (No. 3016)

 

This scene shows a train bridge that merges onto the Victoria bridge, as seen from the south canal bike path. It was getting pretty hot and humid by now, the sky was an eerie blue grey. Despite the rust this bridge looked functional although no trains went by. When painting these industrial scenes it is good to keep the brush work and colours very solid and a little scruffy looking. Under the bridge in the background is the main part of Victoria bridge.

Two Bridges, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3116)

 

Soon I found myself on Ile Notre Dame which is connected to Ile St. Helen. It is part of Parc Jean Drapeau where the car racing track is located. In the summer when it is not used for car racing the local cyclists make good use of it as you can see in the painting. I made sure to sketch out the cyclists early on so that the colours of their lycra could really pop out. In the distance you can see downtown Montreal and even Mont Royal.

Cyclists Around the Bend, watercolour 8 x 10" Strathmore aquarius ii, May 2022 (No. 3017)

On the way back I stopped for some shade, water and little snack in a long narrow park called Sir George-Étienne Cartier Square. I have ridden through this park many times because it connect Ville St. Henri to the canal bike path which you can see a bit in the middle ground. In the background are more factory-turned-condos and the iconic rusty turquoise water silo. To paint the tulip bed with the interesting wood sculpture I used a series of small interlocking brush strokes. When painting flowers and foliage it is best to use light and airy brush strokes to convey the delicate subject matter. In contrast, the industrial elements are done with rough and more direct brush strokes.

Tulip Bed Cartier Square, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3117)

Campus Landscaping

 With the weather much improved trees and grass are turning green and the campus landscaping team is working hard. There is a large, wide garden berm that holds short pale green plants arranged in the letters of the University's name. Over time the plants will fill out and be easily visible for the passerby's. The path in the middle leads to the quad area where I have made many paintings before. It was supposed to be overcast today but was instead a near blue sky. To do this painting I sat at a picnic bench which was handy, lately I have been doing most of the location paintings standing up with my mini-studio shoulder bag. Looking forward to some long weekend paintings coming up.

Campus Landscaping, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3114)

Blossoms near St. Lawrence River

The trees are making blossoms all over Montreal, crab apples and lilacs mostly. For lunch hour I took a quick ride down to the St. Lawrence river, it is not far by bike from my office, and made a quick painting of the blossoms. There was actually a row of dozens of trees in an L shape but the painting just captures a few of them, with pine trees and the river seen in the background. 

 Since the colours worked out so well this time, I will make a brief note to self about how it was done. To paint the rose colour, I used magenta (PR122) that was slightly neutralized by adding a touch of pyrol red (PR254) and carbon black (PBk6), and diluted with a decent ratio of water. Basically that is a way to create pastels, you take a high chroma colour, and cut it with some neutralizer and water, essentially you are adding grey. The tree foliage was made with some fairly concentrated green-yellow, dabbed on by holding a 2 cm wide brush straight up and down. The tree shadows on the ground were perylene green (PBk31), and the tree trunks a classic mix of red brown (PBr7/PR101) and indo blue (PB60). The sky phthalo blue red shade (PB15), the river PB60 with raw sienna highlights, and the grass a mix of yellow (PY154) and green (PG36).
 
Blossoms near St. Lawrence River, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3113)

Moon over Cultural Center

 

On the way back from getting some groceries I saw the most amazing moon peeking through the sky. I grabbed my paint kit and headed out but the moon had gone behind the buildings and was not visible. Undaunted I marched out to the cultural center area where there are better sight lines and sure enough there was the moon. In the background is the cultural center, in the foreground right is the sports complex with a light on its wall. Unprepared for night painting, I did not have my head light or pyrol orange (PO73) which is the ideal paint to mix with indo blue for the night sky. I made due with pyrol red (PR254) but it made a way too dark purple. At any rate, the painting has lots of drama, and I saw a few more locations that would be neat for the next time the moon is out.

Moon over Cultural Center, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3142)

A Few More Abstracts

While cleansing the palette I made a few more abstract paintings. This one was exploring the contrasts between warm and cool colours. Blue is the obvious cool colour, while the yellows and browns are warmer. Yellow can symbolize sunlight, while blue symbolized ice. There isn't much science to back up the warm/cool colour theory but these contrasts can evoke an emotional response in the viewer.

Lemons or Ice Cubes? watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, May 2022 (No.3011a)

 

Recently the Leafs, that is, the Toronto Maple Leafs (shouldn't it be leaves?) were knocked out of the playoffs yet again. The Leafs fall just like the leaves fall in fall. Or something like that. In the painting I combined earth orange and yellow with cyan and turquoise. It is arranged like a snakes and ladders grid. This is painted on the back of the first one, I often paint on the backs of paintings when experimenting.

Ending the Seasons, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, May 2022 (No.3011b)

Saturday Paint Trip, Under the Bridges

On the south side of Nun's Island there is bicycle and pedestrian access to the ice control bridge, called an estacade in french. The path is has been renovated lately so it was like riding on silk, a rare experience in Montreal. In the painting I am standing under the bridge at its beginning, looking towards the west up St. Lawrence river. It was nice to cool off after a hot morning ride down from NDG.

Under the Estacade (ice control bridge) watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3112)

 

The other side of the ice control bridge connects to the south river canal. It is a narrow lane for ships, although seemingly not in use. The wall of the canal has a wide road on it that is open for cyclists. Under the new Champlain bridge I found some more shade and this great view of the bridge curvature and Montreal across the river. It was a daunting painting, the effects were so subtle that I had one chance to get it right, no fussing. It looks like a space-aged painting from another planet!

Under the New Champlain Bridge, watercolour 8 x 10" Strathmore aquarius ii, May 2022 (No. 3017)

 

In this ambitious design I included three and a half bridges. From back to front are the Cartier bridge,  Victoria bridge, new Champlain bridge and a segment of the old Champlain bridge. If the painting extended a little bit on either side you would see nothing more of the old bridge, they are systematically dismantling it leaving just some remnants of the foundations. Oh, and you can just make out the EXPO67 dome if you look carefully

Three and a Half Bridges, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3111b)

 

By now I was feeling the heat, a full summer's day in the middle of May? To give you a feel of what the path is like, this painting shows the row of dry looking scrub trees, a wide gravel path, and the monolithic Champlain bridge looming in the background. This path goes in either direction for many kilometers but I decided to get home instead before it rained. It never rained, but my legs sure were tired, so maybe in the future I can ride a bit further on this path and make more cool paintings of bridges.

South river canal path, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2022 (No. 3108b)