Commuter Train Crossing

The Montreal commuter train goes by Coffee Park frequently, bringing people to and from home, work and school. I was standing on the corner of Coffee Park near the train crossing, it was close to 5:30pm rush hour. A lot of people were getting on and off the train or waiting to cross. The crossing bells were clanging, the red lights were turned on, and the striped barriers were down. All of this commotion is conveyed in the style of the painting. It is a good example of how a location can really influence a painting, how it can infuse a kind of energy that would not possible had this painting been done from a photograph.

Commuter Train Crossing, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3228b)

Gibraltar, Spain

At the southernmost point of my 1998 tour of Spain was a small town called Gibraltar, best known for its prominent mountain called the rock of Gibraltar. The region is adjacent to the Mediterranean sea and the straights of Gibraltar which is an essential shipping lane and formerly an important strategic location for the British colonialists. This cannon was one of the largest in the world at the time, it was meant for striking ships out in the sea, but it was never actually fired in anger. In the background you see the forest along the west side of the mountain and some buildings.
 

Big Cannon, Gibraltar, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 1998 (No. 0928)

I walked up the side of the rock of Gibraltar and made a painting of a monkey thinking. Later I realized that these were not monkeys but apes, and there were a lot of them on the mountain. This one posed long enough for me to make the painting, but walked off soon after. They had a penchant for posing. In the foreground is the steep road that winds up the mountain. At the top, I was surprised to find so many tourists, but it turns out they had a tram-line bringing tourists straight up to the top. My walk was free though!

Ape Resting in Tree, Gibraltar, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 1998 (No. 0929)

 

Going to the very top I found an old artillery turret that was about 2 meters tall, and a ladder on the side to climb up to the top. The sky was partly overcast but still, the sun was very hot and I was down to my last sip of water. It was a tough decision, either make a painting, or drink the water. So I poured about half an ounce into my cup for painting, and drank the other half ounce! There was just enough to do the painting, sitting on the turret, at approximately 442 meters looking down onto the coast line and city. On the way back, I discovered a pub called the Irish Embassy and was delighted that they were serving Irish Murphy Stout on tap. Lucky I saved that money on the tram fare, I could have some cold beer after a hot day of hiking and painting.

View from Top of Rock of Gibraltar, watercolour 5 x 8" cold press, 1998 (No. 0932)

Chair Under Trees in Field

A small grassy field is the only area locals have in the Harley Street neighborhood to sit and enjoy the outdoors. Many chairs can be found in this field including this fabric recliner that was sitting under the treeline near the fence. Behind the fence are the train tracks, and then the private school near campus. I was just out there to pick up some lunch at Snowdon Bakery and made this quick painting. It was very hot and humid today, in stark contrast to my freezing cold office. This will have to part of the 'chairs in field' series!

Chair Under Trees in Field, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3230)

Red Trees, Park near River

It was a great day for a bike ride, so we headed down to the park by the river with some coffee and home baked peanut butter cookies. Our bench was in the shade and had a great view of the river with the reserve on the other side. This painting shows the view looking back towards Lachine, the body of water there is a small inlet that leads to the Lachine canal. There were plenty of seagulls, lured by the smell of our cookies they gathered expectantly around the park bench.
 

Alizarin crimson (PR83) was an old favorite of mine until 2020 when I completely abandoned the pigment due to its lack of stability. To replace it, MacEvoy on Handprint.com recommended perylene maroon (PR179), which is an almost identical dark red. I also have a paint called deep scarlet (PR175) which is nearly identical to perylene maroon, and is currently in the palette. To make the red even darker, perylene green (PBk31) or indo blue (PB60) work wonders. The dark red tree leaves used variations of those paints, with some dabs of orange (PO73), red (PR255) and yellow (PY154) to give the leaves a sun-lit effect.

Red Trees, Park near River, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3229a)

Segal's Grocery Since 1927

You would hardly notice if you walked past it, but this is one of the best all around grocery stores in Montreal. They carry a wide variety of items including high-end organic foods at rock bottom prices. The exact same item that would sell for $14 at a boutique store can be found here for $10. The savings can really add up. Today, I rode my bike out there to pick up organic cereal, peanut butter, coffee, buckwheat flour... the breakfast of champions some might say. After the shopping, I made a quick painting of the store-front. One remarkable feature is the lack of a sign, in fact, the store is called Segal's Grocery Since 1927. Recently I have been painting some interesting and memorable store-fronts. You never know when a place will go out of business. For example, a bicycle shops I used to go to, ABC cycle on Park, was shuttered. It is a sign of gentrification, that the cool restaurants and shops get replaced with condos, and fancy boutiques that sell overpriced organic food.

Segal's Grocery Since 1927, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3228a)

Warming Potential

The ongoing global warming crisis has been caused by human activity, mostly related to fossil fuels and the petrol-chemical industries. I can't deny that many of my favorite paint pigments are derived from petrol-chemicals, including the light and bright quinacridones, benzimidazolones, perylenes, pyrols, and many more. Iron ore slag from steel milling is also the source of many earth pigments. Almost everything we touch has some connection, plastics are derived from petrol-chemical, and most of what we buy or eat has been boated and trucked in to the shop. For thousands of years humans have extracted resources from the ground, and while a lot of good has come of it, the problem of global warming is unsolved. 

That is a lot of baggage for a painting! It was just something I thought about when coming up with a name for the painting. Ont he top is a red-hot desert, underneath are hidden resources in the ground. The composition makes use of a dutch angle. That is a movie-making technique where the camera is awkwardly tilted while filming. It creates a sense of unease and imbalance. Sort of like the environment right now.
 

Warming Potential, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, August 2022 (No. 3197)

Hiking Trail, Mount Sutton

Mount Sutton is known for its family-friendly ski hills, and excellent hiking and biking trails. They do a great job maintaining it and keeping the trails from degenerating. This painting shows one of the many brooks that drain rainwater off the mountain. For the most part, the forest is very hot and humid but when we descended to the valley floor near this brook, the cool water acted as a natural air conditioner. In this scene, the water flowed between the multi-coloured potato-shaped rocks. To create the water, I used my new synthetic brush with a quick side drag motion to catch the texture of the paper. The rocks were built up with successive layers of colours and light-to-dark values. 

Brook, Mount Sutton, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3225)

Following the hiking trail, there was a never ending steep climb over muddy trails, waist-sized rocks, fallen trees, and flowing rivers. Okay I am exaggerating a bit about the trail, it felt like five hours of hiking but was probably closer to two hours. The route may have been different than last time, but the destination, Lake Mohawk was the same as a previous trip. Lake Mohawk is a high mountain lake teeming with fish, minnows, dragon flies, and an assortment of other crawlies like leeches.  The painting shows some of the underbrush which was a tapestry of orange pine needles, minty green moss, deep yellow-green moss, dark brown dirt, and grey rocks. Through the trees, Lake Mohawk was reflecting a blue sky and clouds.

Lake Mohawk, Mount Sutton, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022(No. 3226)

 

After thousands of years of flow, the mountain's rivers have carved intricate gorges and natural pools into the rock. It was amazing to see the strong effects of water erosion. The natural pools were available to wade into, if one was brave enough to handle the cold water. Cilei and I took turns jumping into the ice-cold, crystal-clear water, it was very refreshing. Being that cold also made the campfire all the more satisfying.

Natural Pool, Mount Sutton, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3227)

 

Campsite at Huttopia, Mount Sutton

Huttopia is a camping brand with sites in France and all over the world including Mount Sutton. They have various degrees of camping, including fully equipped all-season cabins, family sized equipped tents, equipped tents for two, and even 'plain old' camp sites with just a fire hearth and a picnic table. We stayed at an equipped tent for two, it came with an electrical connection, very small ice box fridge, a queen sized mattress, an in-tent cloths hanging area. It was sitting atop a stable wooden platform. The site also came with a propane barbeque, fire hearth,  and all kinds of utensils and essentials. In the painting, you can see our hot water kettle atop the electrical pole, and the coffee brewing using our Brazilian filter system. Huttopia is a company based in France, so it seemed fitting to have decent coffee on-site here in Canada.

Campsite Barista, Huttopia, Mount Sutton, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3223)

 

This is a view of a neighboring tent through the trees, there were about a dozen tents in the area but only three or four were occupied. We could hear kids screaming off in the distance due to the proximity to the heated pool up at the 'center of life'. The center of life is a large chalet with a restaurant, WiFi, TV, books, games, information, and a lounge area. We did not make much use of it, since we were camping after all. Or maybe it was better referred to as glamping! Since it rained a lot starting a fire was hard, so I invented a method of barbecuing the logs until toasty and then lighting them. It was a glorious fire indeed, and it kept the mosquitos away.

Glamping Tent, Huttopia, Mount Sutton, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3224a)

Restaurant at Night, Old Montreal

After the sun went down I sat and took in the ambiance of Old Montreal, it is a completely different place on a Monday as compared to the much busier weekends. The facades of the old buildings have loads of interesting brick work and textures from over a century of different companies and uses of the space. On the ground level is a popular restaurant, while the top floor, funny enough, was an art gallery. To the left is the steep beginning of Laurent Street, which has several sidewalk cafes and restaurants decorated with string lights and filled with people enjoying a great evening. Some folks watches me painting this one for a few minutes, I had the head light on so it must have been quite the spectacle.

Restaurant at Night, Old Montreal, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3326)

Dieppe Park and Old Montreal, Hot Humid Day

Parc de Dieppe is a small spit of land that connects to Concorde bridge. Looking across the river there was a great view of a skyscraper that seemed to be floating on top of the trees! In the foreground you see the criss-crossing bike paths and an interesting variety of trees.
 

 View of Montreal, Park de Dieppe watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3217)

A narrow path skirts around the park, it is used by fishermen (and the occasional painter). The water's current was strong here, I could hear the sound of the waves and the whoosing of the water against the retaining wall. To capture the Cartier bridge I used phthalo green blue shade (PG7) mixed with a bit of a new yellow tat I got recently ochre. Unlike the other yellow ochre I have from DaVinci, this one is from Daniel Smith, and it has an orange tint much like raw sienna.

View of Cartier Bridge, Park de Dieppe, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3218a)

I was standing by my bike/studio in the old port, looking back towards old Montreal which is divided by a train crossing. There were a lot of tourists, many stopped to look and say a few things. I have to get a sign with my Instagram handle so people can follow.

Train Crossing, Cartier Place, Old Montreal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3219)

This scene was kind of neat, the barren scape in the foreground with the vehicle is where the Cirque du Soliel tents were set up, now they are all gone. In the background is the ferris wheel. To make earthy greens today, I mixed the new yellow ochre, which has an orange tint, with phthalo green yellow shade (PG36). The orange was mostly pyrol orange (PO73).

Circus Over, Old Port, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, August 2022

On the main drag, Commune Street, there is a constant stream of cars going in both directions. As they drive by you can hear the zipping sound of the tires against the cobble stones. It was dusk here, and the headlights and taillights were visible. I had been thinking about how to paint this kind of scene after doing autoroute 20 the other day, and it seemed to go a bit better this time.

Cars at Dusk, Old Montreal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3220)

Highway A20 at Dusk

On the way back from the Lachine Canal, I rode over the bike path that connects up with NDG. There are great views of the Montreal skyline and autoroute 20 highway. It was getting dark so I tried to paint fast and include as much contrast as possible to give the illusion of artificial lighting. There were headlights, tail lights, street lights, radio tower lights, and the dim glow of the skyscrapers on the horizon. It was the most ambitious night-highway painting yet, I tried to capture the glow of the headlights on the road, and to include as many cars as possible. It may be impossible to fully capture a scene like this, but that wont stop me from trying!
 

Highway A20 at Dusk, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3216)

Ride along Canal with Sunset

 

It started to cool off enough in the late afternoon yesterday for a bike ride along the Lachine Canal path towards Lachine. This scene was done looking East from a bridge over the canal in Lachine. The sun was almost setting, which created a yellow-orange glow on the trees and grass. The reflection was smooth and cool.

Reflection on Canal at Sunset, watercolour 8 x 10" Strathmore Gemini, August 2022 (No. 3194)

 

Going from NDG to the canal, this is the first of many footbridges. Across this bridge is Senkus street which leads to Park Angrignon. It is a difficult bridge to paint, it has light turquoise paint and a complex shape with lots of detail. I just wanted to try and capture the lights and reflections in the shadows underneath.

Footbridge over Canal (to Park Angrignon), watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3221a)

 

Here is a typical scene of the bike path next to the canal. Sometimes I include the black fencing, other times I omit it for convenience. The sun was still high, and it was streaming through the trees creating patterns on the path and grass.

Bike Path along Canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3221b)

 

Around the corner was a side-view of the big factory that I painted before. Scenes like this remind us of the industrial past (and present) of the Lachine canal area. Slowly but surely it is being gentrified with luxury condo developments, but there are still plenty of industrial motifs to satisfy this artist.

Big Tree and Factory on Canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3222a)

 

At the fur-trading museum, the sun was low and starting to set. I stood in the shadows beside the building and captured this moment using bright colours and high contrast. The canal actually continues for quite some distance beyond this point. Historically, the canal would have helped the industries bring raw materials to and fro the industrial areas. Prior to the dredging, the river was an impassable rapids and boats had to portage across.

Sunset around the Fur Museum, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3222b)

 

Just next to Lachine there are a series of connected peninsulas that serve as picnic areas and a marina. This area seems ideal for viewing the sunset. A small bay had collected lily pads which created a contrast on the shimmering water. With high humidity, the sky took on an array of peach, pink, lemon and streaks of powder blue.

Sunset on the River, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022  (No. 3195)

Grey Day around Town

Trenholme park has several areas set aside for games, including a croquet pitch, shuffle board lanes, and checkers/chess boards painted on tables. When I walk by, most of the time it is being occupied squirrels or the occasional passer by like myself. Cilei and I played croquet there once, it is a game I am familiar with from childhood. In the painting, the play area is composed in an immersive manner, so you can imagine yourself whacking the croquet ball through the colourful wickets with a wooden mallet.   

Croquet Pitch, Trenholme Park, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3214b)

Since I was there to pick up the Lufa Farms vegetables I made another quick painting of a large apartment building on Sherbrooke and Cavendish. It was dusk, so the car headlights were standing out from the impending gloom. Since it was raining a little I stood under a massive tree, which is just depicted in the foreground. A lot of these old trees had to be cut down recently due to infections. The city replanted most of them but it will take 50 more years for them to get big. At least the squirrels have enough trees left to live in, and they seemed quite well fed! I depicted one in the first painting, it wouldn't sit still so it was painted from memory.

Apartment on Sherbrooke, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (3215)

University of London Ontario, Campus Paintings

 

After painting a few scenes from the Concordia University laboratories, it reminded me of an old painting I did of the laboratory bench at Robarts Research Institute in London Ontario. Located on the University of Western Ontario campus, this institute is where I spent over 5 years completing a PhD. For the last few years of it, ending in 2004, I worked at this bench which has a small window looking out onto the hospital and a bit of tree line. There is a liquid nitrogen tank at the back, with a biohazard bin in the front with an orange bag. The cupboards are the same navy blue, and the lab is just as gloomy as the current laboratories I work in.

Robarts Research Institute Laboratory Bench, watercolour 5 x 8" cold press, 2004 (No. 0485)

 

After work hours and on weekends I would stroll around campus with my backpack full of gear and camping tripod. I always painted sitting down, either on the tripod or on a bench or ledge. I like the wet-in-wet effect on the pine needles, it gives a realistic feel. The greens were probably a combination of phthalo green (PG7), burnt sienna transparent (PR101), and winsor yellow (PY154).

UWO Campus Pine Tree, watercolour 5 x 8" cold press, 2002 (No. 0486)

 

The was ample green space around campus filled with old trees and the occasional Canada goose! Of course, the pylon was just as important. Very few of these paintings had dates on them, but I could tell from the heavy greens and use of cerulean blue that it was around 2002- 2004. The top vignette shows a squirrel in the shadow of a tree, the bottom is a Canada goose probably wondering if I was going to feed it. 

Green Space around Campus, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 2003 (No. 0487)

 

This excellent scene shows a leaning tree in winter superimposed on the support of an elevated walkway that connects two of the campus buildings. The pastel colours on the limestone brick, and the rising shadows conveys a sunset. Hints of snow signify winter. I love the brevity of this painting, it uses an economy of brush strokes, for example the lamp post is a study in simplicity, and the tree was seemingly done in one pass.  It must have been a tough painting to do, considering the sun was setting and it was winter. There was definitely some luck involved here!

Tree Under Walkway, UWO Campus, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 2003 (No. 0488)

With Attachments

I call these paintings palette cleansers for two reasons, one because I am literally cleaning the paints on my palette, and two, they are a good way to explore colour and shapes without having constraints. On location, much of the scenery is grey, green, brown, and blue, and the goal is to paint something that represents reality. In the abstract setting, everything is up to the imagination, and there is no right or wrong. Abstract painting emerged in the early 20^th century as a legitimate style. Artists like Cézanne, Picasso, Dali, Mondrian, Hilma af Klint, and Jack Whitten were among the first to develop and popularize the style. It may seem easy in a way, but when painting an abstract it is kind of like driving a car at full speed in a large parking lot without any brakes ... a lot can go wrong!
 

With Attachments,  watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, August 2022 (No. 3196b)

Summer in Old Montreal

The east end of old Montreal is bordered by Berri street, with the iconic stone bridge under Notre Dame avenue. The steep road to the right is also Berri, it connects up with Notre dame. I was standing in a shady, pleasant little park called Parc Ville-de-la-Flèche, in fact the park was so pleasant I must have sat there for an hour cooling off and having an instant coffee. Instant coffee is one of my must have items on a bike trip, there is nothing like having a coffee out in the middle of the city. As I painted this scene many cars, buses, and tourists passed by, but the one thing that caught my eye was the pigeons. Maybe it was the same one as I saw last time? 

Berri Street, with Pigeon, Old Montreal, watercolour 8 x 10" Strathmore Series 400, August 2022 (No. 3324a)

 

I found a small nook by a outdoor patio where I could standing by my bike on Laurent Street. You can add the 'saints' if you please to these names, most streets have it but I feel like omitting it for now. The buildings down town are very ornate, built over a hundred years ago or even more when the stone work facades were important and had to look impressive. To paint this scene I made a fairly detailed outline with paint and a number 2 brush, then I filled in the colours and shadows. It was a do-it-yourself paint-by-numbers strategy. I employ this strategy when there is overwhelming detail to capture and not a lot of room for mistakes to happen.

View of Paul Street, Old Montreal, watercolour 8 x 10" Strathmore Gemini, August 2022 (No. 3325)

Farine Five Roses is an iconic sign atop a large factory with grain silos. I have attempted to paint it many times, the most accomplished perhaps was a night painting. Today there was a neat view of one of the massive grain silos from under Highway 10 that leads to the Victoria bridge. The sky was an interesting semi circle surrounded by the structures. This is a very interesting area to paint and I would like to do more here, but the scenes really need larger sizes of paper, perhaps I will pack the 9 x 12 block next time.

Farine Five Roses Silo, seen from Under a Bridge, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3214a)

Clinical Analysis Laboratory

 

A few months ago I made an opportunistic painting of the Applied Physiology Laboratory, it was a rainy day and I was waiting for the storm to subside. Today was a fantastic day, it just so happened that I had to be in the lab in the early afternoon to complete a procedure, and I had my paints along with me for a bike/painting trip afterwards. There were no people in the laboratory, not even the graduate students! The big object at the back right is a biosafety cabinet, it is a large box with sterile air flow and a bright light to see the samples. Underneath is a biohazard waste container. To the left are two incubators stacked up, they keep the cells alive. Next to that, with the green cap, is a carbon dioxide cylinder that maintains a 5% level in the incubators, which are also kept at 37℃. The lab is very grey and gloomy, I really had to search for the colours and punch them up a bit in the painting. 

Clinical Analysis Laboratory, PERFORM Centre, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3213)

Olympic Stadium Front View

 

On the way back from the Radisson Station and Park, I found myself riding through a labyrinth of construction. Not a single construction worker or sign of activity, but hundreds of fences, cones, and blasted out roads. It seems like they are surrounding Olympic Stadium with concrete, asphalt, and interlocking brick, all of which gets stinking hot in the summer. At any rate I found a frontal view of the Olympic Stadium, otherwise known as the 'Big Owe' due to its tremendous cost to the taxpayers. The roof of the stadium is supported by large curved ribs, and suspended from a giant pillar with hundreds of cables. To create the warm glows I used yellow ochre (PY43), and raw sienna (PBr7). Where the shadows were blue I added indo blue (PB60) with raw sienna (PBr7), or just carbon black (PB6) with deep scarlet (PR175). Deep scarlet is a benzimidazolone pigment from Daniel Smith Company that is nearly identical to perylene maroon (PR179).

Olympic Stadium Front View, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3193)

Ride out East to Radisson Station and Park

In 2020 I painted at Radisson Station, it is the second to last station on the green line metro. Looking back on the series. I felt that a few stations were worth another visit. It just took a bit of time for me to 'get the legs back' for what is a substantial bike ride to make in one go, the station is about 21 km one way, with some hills. I managed the 42 km round trip without any trouble, and even brought along a tire change just in case. In the painting, I depicted both of the 'bunker-like' stations as seen through the trees. Since the bus would stop behind me, people would occasionally run out of the station and through the trees to get to the bus. 
 

Radisson station, Green Line Metro, as Seen Through the Trees, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3191b)

 

With the sun beaming down, I could only find a few spots in the shade to paint from. This scene was uninteresting until the bus stopped, then there were three overlapping elements in the composition, and the bus brought in some extra colour which was sorely lacking from the concrete and metal station. An emergency phone provided a splash of yellow, and the windows of the station had a neat turquoise. This done on the Strathmore series 400 paper, which I was not a fan of for watercolour, the Strathmore Gemini is much better.

Radisson station, Green Line Metro, Bus Stopped, watercolour 8 x 10" Strathmore S400, August 2022 (No. 3323)

 

A bike path took me from the Radisson Station to an appropriately named Radisson Park. It was a long narrow park with a large nature area consisting of trees, grass, benches and stone paths. It seemed like a fitting place to make a watercolour- save for the fire hydrant and street in the background, this could have been a provincial park. I gave a lot of attention to the trees, one was a tall blue pine tree, the other a typical deciduous park tree with its leaves sparkling in the summer sun. There were actually four of these old benches here in almost full shade. It was a great place to sit although I was the only one there.

Radisson Park Bench, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3192b)

Cavern of Science

Inspired by a recent painting of the laboratory, this abstract palette cleanser is a fusion of art and science. The abstract forms at the bottom of the painting represent the kind of things we would see under the microscope, and the scary looking space at the top is the laboratory. Now that the actual laboratory is cleaned, detoxified, and organized, it is starting to feel like a good place to work. I know the graduate students will get some results soon, which is going to be a good moment considering how long this laboratory sat neglected and mostly unused before I took over. Not that I am trying to brag, but there were mountains of rubbish, biohazards, chemical waste, radioactive artifacts and razor blades lying around. I could have made a reality TV show called 'laboratory nightmares' !

Cavern of Science, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, August 2022 (No. 3196a)

Number of Paintings

Here is an abstract painting I made earlier in the summer while cleaning the palette off. I must have been thinking of all the paintings done over the years. Just today, I completed my archive update- nearly every painting has been named, numbered, and entered into a spreadsheet catalogue. The numbers refer to the piece of paper, for example, this painting was number 3046. If there is another painting on the back, I add a small letter b to the number. There is actually a total of 3,665 paintings. I can also say that the total surface area of the paintings is 265,236 square inches (171 square meters). About half of my output was from 2020 onwards, when the pandemic led me to paint a lot more than before. At the end of the year, I will post another graph. The scientist in me is curious about these things even though they don't really matter!

Number of Paintings, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, Summer 2022 (No. 3046)

After Work Ride to River and Canal

 

Across from Lachine at the beginnings of the canal is a long narrow park with decent views for painting. I have made many paintings there during all seasons and times of day. This one shows the central walking path near the peninsula, with thick tree cover and luminous shadows. The entire background was painted, then the trees and leaves overlaid. Lifting was used to pull highlights out of the tree trunks and dark foliage.

Path Through Trees, Lachine Park, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3177b)

 

This view is on the canal side looking at Lachine. The sun was low which created an orange glow. I found the garbage can very interesting, they have unique ones in the park. Although it is a small detail the blue-green sign on the garbage can plays well against the warmer greens of the tree top and grass. 

View Across to Lachine, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3187b)

 

On my way back I caught this view of three bridges crossing the canal. The first is the train bridge I have painted many times. The second is a highway overpass, and the third off in the distance is a car bridge connecting to Ville Pierre. To the bottom right you see the bike path and canal railing. OFten I leave out the canal railing, but it worked well this time to create depth and balance with the top-heavy bridge elements.

Three Bridges over Canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3188b)

PERFORM Centre with Picnic Table

The PERFORM Centre is a gym, a research center, and a teaching facility all under one wide roof. My research team works in the clinical analysis on the top floor. In the painting you can get the impression of the gym which has overhead fluorescent lights, and people can be seen working out on the treadmills and exercise bikes. The front of the Centre has a long approach surrounded by fields and a picnic table where staff and students sometimes stop for lunch or a snack. I have painted the Centre many times before but never featured like in this composition. The objects had to be shuffled around a bit to get the composition right. The picnic table sits next to the path inviting a visitor, while the tree connects the ground to the sky above.
 

PERFORM Centre with Picnic Table, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3192)

World Inspired Landscapes: Guatemala, versions 1 and 2

Guatemala is a country in Central America home to some incredible landscapes including a large volcano. I posted a painting of Guatemala earlier, which was actually the third version. While doing the archiving I found these two earlier versions which are quite neat. In this one, the sky is a cotton-candy pink with flashes of amber and a lilac volcano. The foreground depicts the tropical jungle with one steep side and one lower side meant to break up the symmetry of the composition.
 

World Inspired Landscapes: Guatemala, version 1, watercolour 5 x 7" hot press, March 2022 (No. 3082a)

 

In this version, I tamed the foreground and downplayed the intense colours. In fact, I like the first version now that I see them on the blog, it has a lot of energy and atmosphere.

World Inspired Landscapes: Guatemala, version 2, watercolour 5 x 7" hot press, March 2022 (No. 3082b)

Found Paintings

As I catch up on the archive there are a few paintings in the pile that never made it to the blog for whatever reason. In some cases the quality of the painting is poor, although that happens rarely nowadays. This painting seems fine it just must have been put in the box before I got to blogging about it. It looks like another palette cleanser, I remember keeping the brush strokes very light to show a sparkle-texture. Somehow it looked like static... in the attic. 
 

Static in the Attic, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, summer 2022 (No. 3038a)

 

On the back was this painting of bird cages hanging from a castle-like tree. In the Mile End neighborhood there is a lady that sells flowers, in fact she rather famously owns every store on that block. Hanging over the main shop are dozens of empty bird cages. This abstract was obviously inspired by the idea, hence the name Bird's End instead of Mile End.

Bird's End, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, summer 2022