Dépanneur Diamond 10

Its not often that I return to a location and repeat a scene, let alone three times. One of my favorite paintings of the year, Chair in a Field of Yellow Buttercups, was done one week after the first visit to the field. Yesterday I was down in Lachine doing this scene again, but the composition was not quite right and so I spent this morning sketching out some ideas and studying Van Gogh's 'The Yellow House' which depicts a similar subject matter. He used an unusual perspective, apparently on purpose, where the perspective lines did not quite converge on either side. In Dépanneur Diamond 10, I emulated the odd perspective lines and it seemed to work out quite well. The facade of the store, and the entrance are now the focal point, and the attached apartment unit sits comfortably to its side. To solve the foreground problem I included the cross walks which draw attention to the front door, and installed a parking sign to keep your eye from wandering off. In a nod to The Yellow House, I made the neighbors house pink with a green window. I think this painting is close to what I imagined but I can still see some room for improvement. Maybe another ride down to Lachine? At least it is not far, just about 20 minutes by bike.

Dépanneur Diamond 10, version iv, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, October 2022 (No. 3207a)