Rain Rain go Away

 After the morning showers cleared it seemed okay for a bike ride and some painting. The clouds were threatening rain so I stayed close to home and made this painting of a local dépanneur. Artists from all around come here to make paintings because it is so scenic and the busy traffic adds ambiance. Actually I am probably the first and last painter to do this scene (Cilei's joke). A passerby wondered what I was doing and then informed me that there was a scenic canal nearby where I could try painting. Hmm, I wonder which canal that could be?

Dépanneur Saga, watercolour 8 x 10" Fabriano Artistico, June 2022 (No. 3037a)

 

The city installed a new path connecting the East part of the Turcot to the West part, I have already made a few paintings here including last winter. For this scene I was standing under a covered pedestrian area with some seats, looking west. If you look at the very top center there is a steel tower with an a frame shape, that is actually right next to the canal. 

New Path with View of Train Tracks and Highway, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2022 (No. 3150a)

It actually started to rain so I waited it out under the Turcot. In front of me was a tangle of no less than seven highways. Hokusai once made a drawing called Seven Bridges with Mount Fuji, which inspired this design. The suspension bridge kind of looks like mount Fuji! Once goal I have is that people will recognize what model of car I painted, luckily a mini Cooper drove by they are very distinctive.

Seven highways, under the Turcot, watercolour 8 x 10" Fabriano Artistico, June 2022 (Bolton Valley on back)

 

They had just sprayed parts of the landscaping with that turquoise grass mixture, which contrasted nicely with the different coloured grasses. The mulch was also brand new, it has a bright, pale orange colour. The benzi orange (PO62) worked perfectly.

New landscaping, hydro seed watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2022 (No. 3133b)

 

Finally I looped back around the Lachine canal path to get home and made this grey day painting. The faded wash was applied first, then the rest of the scene worked up. I simplified the reflections on the canal to just give an idea. In the background you see one of the highways that connects to the Turcot interchange.

Grey Day, Lachine Canal watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2022 (No. 3145b)