A Persian Woman Eating Lunch on Campus

The other day I got out for a quick painting on campus, this time it was a composite of several people into one imaginary person. The figure represents a Persian woman having lunch under a tree, which represent a freedoms of choice. People are supposed to have a right to choices but all too often other people will try to take away instead of giving. From time to time I use art to explore social themes, after all, what is the artists role but to reflect their surroundings?
 

A Persian Woman Eating Lunch on Campus, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3253b)

A Table and Four Chairs in a Field

After the first attempt at this scene I went back to repeat the painting a few days later when the rain stopped. The table was upended with its top off, the chairs were upside down, and the objects were strewn about on the ground.  With some effort I was able to re-assemble the table, it was heavy, and arrange the chairs and objects roughly as they had been the last time. Midway through the painting a local fellow walked by and took one of the chairs away to sit on it, he then asked me if he would be in the painting. No, I replied it was too late this time I had already started the painting. Compared to the first attempt, this one is on a larger piece of paper and shows more of the chairs and field. The background elements are much lighter in value and orange was emphasized throughout. I noticed that there was a small camping tent back in the woods that you can notice in the top right. The table's angle was tilted to create a rotational composition, and to better show off the objects on the table which included an empty sangria bottle, a rusted enamel bowl, tuna can ashtrays and an empty pack of cigarettes. A few of my students recently gave me a book on Cezanne and he would also tilt the angle of the tables to show the objects. In doing so, he created a surrealistic atmosphere. That idea seemed appropriate for a painting of a table and four chairs in a field.

A Table and Four Chairs in a Field, watercolour 8 x 10" Strathmore Gemini, September 2022 (No. 3332)

Table and Chairs in a Field

 

On what was supposed to be a lunch break I went out and made this painting of a table and some chairs in the field where I have painted many chairs before. The table had an empty sangria bottle being used as a candle holder, and several empty tuna cans being used as ash trays. Candle wax was all over the table. One of the chairs, the green one just visible on the right was in a previous painting I did when the trees were releasing seed pods all over the field. Today there were leaves on the ground since the weather has cooled off and fall is approaching. In the winter I will have to see if I can paint 'chairs in a snowy field'.

Table and Chairs in a Field, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3254b)

Paintings from Ontario over the Years

In 1996, I had access to Mom and Dad's car for summer jobs. On free days, I would drive down to Toronto, or take the metro from North Toronto, and make paintings all day. It was called the Skydome originally, now it has a corporate name but not much else has changed with it. There were elaborate sculptures of fans on the side but I omitted that. If you look carefully at the bottom right there is a line up of people. Just before this one, I did another Skydome painting from the side view.

Skydome Front View, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 1996 

This painting was done later due to the granulation in the sky which is from cerulean blue. I was also using the high wires as part of the composition to show just how ugly things were. The CN tower looks a little thin here.

CN Tower with wires, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2001

 

Union station is a cavernous artifact from a past age. And that is just the urinals. In this painting, I showed the clock and time board. The dark areas were done with alizarin crimson (PR83) and viridian hue (PG7). It worked quite well but nowadays I use carbon black (PBk6) with peryelen maroon (PR179) or benzi maroon (PR175).

Union Station Toronto, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 2008 

Closer to home, this is Macville Public school where Mom used to teach and was Principal towards the end. This painting was a preliminary painting done on location. It was for a larger work that was framed and given to a teacher who retired. For the larger work I combined the colour and technique from this painting with information from a photo.

Macville Public School, watercolour 5.5 x 9" cold press, 2003?

Ride Around the Boroughs, Part 2

 

After painting in NDG and Griffintown, I headed to Old Port and saw one of the regular cruise boats docked. The underside of the hull was reflecting a variety of colours from the surroundings and the water. That green tower in the background has been under construction for years, I think it is either an observatory, or a massive off-ramp for even bigger cruise boats.

 Cruise Boat, Old Port, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3255)

 

From Old Port I rode up to Little Italy to pick up some bulk food at Anatol Spices. The staff all know me well, I have been shopping there for 15 years! Looping around to my old neighborhood Mile End I stopped to make a painting of an iconic warehouse and water tower. Reports say that this building will be re-purposed for shopping and living, but the mayor said the water tower has to stay. If they took the water tower away I think there would be a lot of unhappy locals. It is visible from many parts of Mile End and adds to the character.

Warehouse and Watertower, Mile End, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3256a)

 

Across the street is a vacant lot filled with artistic metal sculptures. Similar sculptures are found all along the north part of Mile End where the train tracks run. Nobody knows who made them, but it was obviously a talented metal worker, or perhaps a group. One of the pieces was marked 1999. A fellow was playing saxophone in the back of the park, adding to the ambiance.

Metal Sculpture Park, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3256b)

Griffintown Mural

Riding around Griffintown was frankly a little sad. Once a vibrant hipster neighborhood, now it becoming block after block of condo development. This colourful mural on the side of an old building signified an artistic element not found elsewhere. Normally I avoid painting other people's art, but in this case the mural provided a stunning contrast to the monochromatic construction projects. In the background I depicted the condos in grey scale. The mural was not exactly like this, I wanted to provide a homage not a copy. The artist was gosensi420. A lot of people walked by as I painted this one.
 

Griffintown Mural, watercolour 8 x 10" Strathmore Gemini, September 2022 (No. 3331a)

Ride around the Boroughs, part 1

 

Today the weather was perfect for a painting trip, not too hot, not too cold, and a nice blue sky. This auto wash is on Maisonneuve along the bike path, I have rode past a thousand times and always wanted to paint it. A variety of greys and browns made the yellows really pop.

Car Wash on Maisonneuve, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3250a)

 

Turning south and passing under the highway brings you to Ville st Henri. Most of the old factories and warehouses have been turned into condos. At first glance it looks just like an industrial park until you notice that people are living here.

Factories Turned into Condos, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3251a)

 

 

Following the canal path Eastwards bring you towards downtown Montreal. This is a typical scene from the old part of the city, I believe it is Griffintown. The skyscrapers in the background are new, and the structure on the left side of the painting is another new apartment. 

 Buildings and Shadows Downtown, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3252a)

 

Here is another old building, there was a big sign on it saying it would be a hotel soon. In the background is a huge warehouse that has somehow survived the onslaught of condo development.

 Soon to be Hotel, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3252b)

 

The middle of Griffintown is a condo moonscape. Roads are torn up, gravel ditches and fences are everywhere. I omitted the labyrinth of fences. It mostly monochromatic, with just some blue sky and orange brick. Yellow ochre (PY43) provided some warmth.

Condo Moonscape Griffintown, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3253a)

 

Sunset on Cavendish

 

As the sun set on Cavendish I caught this great view from atop the Maisonneuve overpass. I used a new approach on the cars, it started with a warm background for the road, leaving open spaces for the headlights. Then a darker purple for the asphalt, with yellow blossoms for the headlight glow. Finally some darks and colours for the car itself. To create the illusion of a sunset, the midground and background elements were quite low value (dark). Unfortunately the printer driver has a problem so I can not scan anything. Usually I can fix those kinds of computer problems but this time its a stubborn one.

Here is the scan finally, the ink cartridge was empty which prevented the scanner from connecting to the driver properly. Once I disabled the ink warning the scanner worked again!

Sunset on Cavendish, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3249)

Limited Paths

 Spending a lot of time in and around Montreal I realized there are limited paths to travel. A sidewalk leads to another sidewalk, surrounded by roads and private property. If you ride far enough you hit the end of the city, the end of passable terrain. Riding around the island leads you in a circle right back to where you started. Even going to a forest you have to follow the hiking trail. This painting was inspired by those feelings. The central corridor is compressed by outside elements and high contrast colours. IT also kind of looks like an alien language.

Limited Paths, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, September 2022 (No. 3208)

Summer's End Palette Review

For the most part I kept the palette the same this summer. Raw sienna (PBr7) was replaced with a very similar yellow ochre (PY43) on the second slot, and perylene maroon (PR179) was replaced with an  almost identical deep scarlet (PR175) on the fifth slot. I kept umber in the mixing area to see how much I used it, and the answer was, a lot. Umber is the colour of tea with milk, which is great for representing old concrete, or the warm glow on a sidewalk. I may eliminate one of the two yellow ochres and put umber in the slot. Otherwise, I probably wont change anything until winter. In winter, a few of these paints tend to freeze solid, and I have some honey-based alternatives that resist freezing. But we are not there yet thankfully. I hope we get a decent fall season with some leaves changing colours.

September 2022 palette

Montreal North, ride around town

After painting around the Hydro dam on Prairies River I headed up to a park on the river called Park Gouin. The sun was starting to get low, which cast long shadows across the park. A large, covered stage was in the middle of the park. A man was teaching a woman a self-defense class on the stage, it was kind of neat to watch while I painted. In the background was a large apartment building. To anchor the composition I included part of a large circular brick feature that connected several of the paths. 

Park Gouin with Stage, watercolour 8 x 10" Strathmore Gemini, September 2022 (No. 3330)

 

Looking downstream there was a good view of the Highway 25 bridge. I had a lot of trouble with the colours and overworked this one a tad. It shows the bright sun on the bridge spans against a hot and humid overcast sky.

Highway 25 bridge, view from Park Gouin, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3244)

This view was on an industrial road on the far east side of Montreal North, approximately 25km from home for me. In the background were rows of apartment buildings on the shore of the river.

Industrial Lot, Montreal North, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3245)

On the south-east part of Montreal North there are a lot of big box stores, highways, and street after street of triplex and condo buildings. This row of triplexes went as far as the eye could see. I emphasized the pastel colours and kept the lines loose.

Triplexes, Montreal North, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3246)

With the sun almost down I rode across town to the west side near Parc Suavé. This fountain was in a small grassy expanse between two busy roads. There was no way to access the park other than to ride over the grass. In the middle, was an empty fountain. Some tall grass was growing out, mimicking the shape of a water fountain. In the background was an oddly shaped art installation.

Plant Fountain, Montreal North, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022

 

To complete the four corners of Montreal North I headed to the intersection of St. Michel and Industrial Road. A Dairy Queen was there, still busy even at the late hour. As usual, I changed the sign to be two of my initials. This scene would have been better if I waited for it to get a bit darker, but I had to get home while there was still some light left.

PJ's Ice Cream Shop, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022

Montreal North, Prairies River

 

Montreal North is a large community located on the north shore of the island on Prairies River. This view is of a small island that is part of a Hydro Quebec dam. The reservoir has spill-over walls so there are plenty of small waterfalls. I was standing by my bike/studio right at the water front on a small beach in an area called fisherman's corner. Nobody was fishing. 

Île du Cheval de Terre, Montreal North, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3236b)

 

It was so peaceful here, just the sound of distant waterfalls, so I made another painting looking down at the ducks. The ducks were expecting some food, and when I did not provide any, they quickly swam away in disgust. Next time I will have to bring some food for them to keep them around longer.

Ducks on Prairies River, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3235b)

 

Just about 100 meters downstream was a very large dam. It was a challenge to capture the scene. The dam was an odd shape, and the waterfalls were cascading down the wall and creating ripples in the water.

Dam with waterfalls, Prairies River, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3231b)

 

On the other side of the dam, the water was crashing through an outlet. A huge plume of spray was emanating mist. I tried to capture the effect by dimming the value of the background trees and applying textures. The foreground shows a bit of the concrete beach. I didn't realize it was concrete until I noticed rebar sticking out. Not sure what the story is on that one.

Dam Outlet, Prairies River, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3243a)

 

 

The last painting in the area was of the other side of the dam, as seen from the edge of the bike path. Water was actually flowing down like a waterfall here but I lost the shape of it. It still coveys most of the colours, textures and feel of the scene. Imagine the sound of roaring water and mist on the face. 

Water from Dam, Prairies River, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3243b)

Trenholme Park Night Glow

 At night Trenholme park is aglow in strong amber lights. These ones were illuminating one of the soccer fields at the back of the park. Looking to the south, the sky was an inky blue which I captured with dark blue (PB60), red-orange (PO73), and a touch of blue-green (PG7) in the corners. The orange are mixes of orange-yellow (PY110) and green (PG36). I had my bike lamp pointing back at my painting surface to judge the colours. The illuminated pillar was one of the tall field-lamps. 

Amber Glow on Field, Trenholme Park, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3241)

Looking northwards towards Sherbrooke, this scene captured the table used for playing ping-pong, and the street traffic. The real subject matter was the sky and treeline. The sky was a very dark blue at the top, and faded to a slightly lighter cyan at the horizon. To depict the sky I used dark blue (PB60) with a touch of red-orange (PO73) at the top, then blended it with blue-green (PG7) and a touch of water towards the horizon. It took some fiddling and I had to try a few things to reach those mixes, so the sky is not quite perfectly smooth. Next time I do this kind of sky it will be easier. The trees were dark green (PBk31) with dark red (PR179) and carbon black (PBk6).

Night with Table Tennis, Trenholme Park, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3241)

Sunflowers on a Rainy Day

After picking up some lunch I walked down Harley street to the field where I painted many chairs before. Today it was raining steadily, so I had to paint while standing, with the umbrella tucked into my shirt and held precariously by my chin. A shoulder bag, actually the bike bag, had the paints, paper, brushes and water. Instead of painting chairs this time, I turned to the community garden and a large circle of sunflowers. Against the grey sky, the yellow really stood out, and the greens took on olive tones. The idea to paint the rainy sky with a strip of black (PBk6) came from the Japanese print designers who used a similar device to depict storm clouds. For the rest of the paintings it was just a matter of channeling Van Gogh, the dutch painter famous for his sun flower still life oil paintings.
 

Sunflowers on a Rainy Day, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3240)

Was Akhavan

 

One of the local grocery stores recently moved locations to Jacques street, leaving behind an empty building and parking lot on Sherbrooke. Akhavan is a Persian style grocery with lots of fresh food, nuts, dairy, meat and a huge section for tea. Too bad it is so far away now and hard to reach by bike. I was standing in the shade in the abandoned parking lot looking at one of the service doors and back side of the large facade. The sun was really hot and cast an amber glow on everything. To get the colours right I used combinations of earth paints with high chroma paints, and made sure to get the shadows dark and cool. Our guess is that this will be redeveloped into condos soon.

Was Akhavan, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3239b)

Brief ride around Lachine, Lasalle

The long narrow park near Lachine gives good views of the marina on one side, and the Lawrence River on the other side. To make this painting I was standing under a large willow tree which was captured by painting it over top of the other elements after they dried. The water is a transition from pale cyan, true-blue, and blue violet at the shore line. Nearest the shore, the water takes on the appearance of the rocks below. Some purple flowers and other greenery adorned the foreground.

View of piers, Lachine, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3229b)

 

Down the shore path, there is a nameless train bridge just before the Mercier bridge. A wide dirt path leads to a clearing with great views of the bridge and river. Despite the audacious composition, this painting was all about subtlety. The bridge was a range of warm and cool greys with reflecting light on the brick work. A small triangular gap shows sky just under the middle part of the span, and small sections of water show the olive green tones and purple shadows under the bridge. A pine bow cuts across the top left, and a block of concrete with graffiti is partially seen in the foreground. Using a close-crop, and providing just hints of the surroundings made a very interesting composition on a scene that could have been mundane. I found a few other good spots to paint around here but it was a little hot today and I headed home.

Train Bridge near Mercier Bridge, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3224b)

De Chou Restaurant

There are a few nice little restaurant in the neighborhood including de Chou restaurant, a fusion of Japanese and Korean food. Our favorite is the bibimbap, a cooked rice dish in a heavy set bowl topped with some veg, meat if you want, and a fried egg. We also enjoy the bento box, which looks a TV dinner on steroids, but with an excellent assortment of delicacies including tempura shrimp, and kimchi which is a fermented cabbage. Last Thursday while waiting for the LUFA farm delivery, I made a quick painting of the store when the sun was going down. I kept the brick facade light and bottom-lit to give the illusion of dusk.

De Chou Restaurant, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3239a)

Several Levels

Combining several ideas to come up with a new idea, mixing several colours to create a new feeling, attaching two words to have a new meaning. Is art valuable if nobody pays for it? Is art beautiful if nobody looks at it? Is art fulfilling if nobody paints it? Like this painting, there are more ideas than questions and more answers that we will ever know.

Several Levels, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, September 2022 (No. 3198)

Trip to Atwater Market

 

Standing among the throngs of people I made a quick painting of one of the many fruit and veggie stands in the Atwater Maket. A lot of shoppers were blocking the scene, so I had to paint from memory and a few glances. There were tomatoes, strawberries, squash, corn, and melons. I noticed that they put the red items against a green background to make them stand out even more.

Fruit and Veggie Stand, Atwater Market, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3238a)

 

I made one last quick painting while Cilei and her sister were still looking around the market. It was very cool and humid so they paint stayed moist the whole time. The brick colour was mostly raw sienna (PBr7)  neutralized with perylene green (PBk31), or brightened up with benzi orange (PO62).

Clock Tower, Atwater Market,watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3238b)

Sun Setting Over Montreal

 

On the way back from a long ride along the south canal path I stopped at the area between the ice control bridge and Champlain bridge. The sky was very humid with partial cloud cover, which created an array of peach and salmon colours in the sky. To paint the sunset, I started with a ring of pale yellow and worked outwards from there. The top half of the sky was neutral grey with tints of yellow, and some strips of cloud and blue sky. The bottom half was red and orange, with the bridges and reflection. On the left is the ice control bridge with a wonderful bike path connecting with Nun's island.

Sunset between Bridges, watercolour 8 x 10", S400, September 2022 (No. 3328)

 

As the sun descended, brilliant scarlet reds and oranges appeared on the horizon. A fisher stood motionless, hoping for a late catch. The bridge on the right is the connector between Nun's island, where I was standing, and Verdun. I liked the cool foreground tree and how it contrasted against the warm background and neutral bridge. Using the 2 inch hog's hair brush created a neat texture and thick juicy brush strokes.

Sun Set with Fisher, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3237a)

Ride to Récréo Parc across the River

 

Across the River is the south river canal which is still used for large shipping vessels. This view was painted from the bike path that goes along the canal all the way to Récréo Parc. The islands in the canal are bird sanctuaries. To my surprise, I only brought along one brush, the large camel hair brush used for cleaning the palette. Since I was over 20 km out I decided to make the most of it and do the paintings anyways!

Bird Sanctuaries, South River Canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3234)

 

 

The south canal is separated from the river by a 20 meter wide strip of land which was probably made with heaps of rocks and earth. To the sides of the path grow scrub trees, sumac, grass, and all sorts of flowers and greenery. I liked the way the shadows cast across the curving path. 

Path along South Canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3235a)

 

A massive shipping vessel chugged through the canal at slow speed. I got ahead of it and set up my bike/studio and captured just the rear-end, or aft as they say in the naval world. Making detail with a 2 inch round hog's hair brush was no small feat. The ship, which was one of Paul Martin's fleet as indicated by the markings, was way gone by the time I finished the painting.

Shipping Vessel in South Canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3236a)

 

Finally I made it to Récréo Parc, I was about 26 km from home at this point. The islands in the background are Heron Island or more likely Devil's Island, and the buildings on the horizon are in Verdun. The water was a sparkling mix of turquoise, chartreuse, sap green, pale blue, and neutral purples. Using a 2 inch hog's hair brush suited the subject matter perfectly, it created good texture and easily flowing lines. You can see the purplish shadow in the foreground caused by the tall trees all around me.

View of Lachine Rapids from Récréo Parc, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3327)

 

 

 

Ride to Canal and some Bike Repairs

The new bridge that crosses the Decarie near the hospital provides incredible panorama views that I have captured before in several paintings. For this painting, I cropped the area by leaving a strip of paper showing on the top and bottom. It made the dimensions closer to 2:1 which is a traditional ratio used to paint sea-scapes. 
 

st Jacques Bridge Panorama, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3232a)

 

After stopping at the cycle shop to pick up some parts I changed my bike tire to a more durable model and then rode down to canal to make a quick painting. The graffiti was reflecting in the water, of course the graffiti was my initials. Often I change the graffiti to my initials, because, why not?

Graffiti Reflection in Canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3232b)

 

On the way back, the sun was starting to set, and I found a good place to stand with a view of the back entrance to the cycle shop. An interesting combination of the roof-line, shadow, and prominent red door made for a good composition. A bike painted red hung over the entrance.

Cycle Néron Back Entrance, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3233a)

 

The new highway overpass has a tall Plexiglas wall that lets the light through, and casts shadows on the adjacent buildings. I caught the effect just before the sun went down. A half moon hung low in the sky. To get the intense brick colour I mixed burnt red ochre (PR102) with benzi orange (PO62). The benzi orange is higher chroma than the earth paint, so it gives the illusion of the sun striking the bricks. The shadow was the burnt ochre with indo blue (PB60) which produced a slightly reddish shadow. Since the shadow leans to cool red, and the highlight leans to warm yellow, it gives a good illusion of the sun setting on the building, with the shadow from the highway.  

Highway Shadow on Building, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3233b)