Saturday, April 15, 2023

Terry Fox Park and Canal, feels like Summer

Along st Jacques on the south side of NDG there are fantastic views of Montreal and surrounding region from the escarpment. I stopped my bike in a small, long park called Terry Fox Park. I have painted here before but never knew the proper name of the park until just now. The grass is starting to poke out from the muddy ground. On the right, trees were leaning over the fence, and just starting to show their leaf buds. The trees were mostly done with umber (PBr7) and orange (PO62), with purple shadows (PB60 and PV19).

Terry Fox Park Path end of winter, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2023 (No. 3431b)

Since the weather was so nice I dressed in my summer garb. Light pants, just a T shirt, and plenty of sunscreen, I even brought the old bucket hat. The sun was rather low and the temperature was a balmy 25℃. This is the kind of painting I can only attempt in warm, dry, breezy weather conditions because there are a lot of layers. Through the trees you see the Turcot interchange and some of the industrial buildings including the disused building with the pink house on top of it. I got one my favorite things in this painting, the garbage can at bottom left.

Terry Fox Park Path City View, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2023 (No. 3430b)

After the escarpment I zoomed down tot he canal via st Henri, and made a painting of the old factory which I will post separately. A little further to the west there is a relatively new suspension bridge going over the canal. The water was sparkling intensely from the strong sun. I knew that juxtaposing the dark yellows, greys, and blacks with the delicate water would give the illusion of sparkles. I signed in red to give some colour. Today I had neutral tint on my palette, it is PBk6, PV19, and PB15 (black, violet, blue) from Winsor and Newton brand. It helped me to quickly get the cold black accents in this painting. 

Sparkling Canal with Suspension Bridge, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2023 (No. 3433a)

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