Finally, some Fall Colours to Work With

 

After doing some paintings in old Lachine, I turned down to the bike path and found this interesting scene of the newly paved bike path covered in orange leaves. The sun was hiding behind the heavy cloud cover, yet it still produced an intense glare on the st Lawrence river. The yellow stripe was a crucial part of the composition, I painted it by applying the yellow first, then painting over with the deep purple which was a mix of dark magenta (PV19) and carbon black (PBk6), with dilutions of blue (PB15) towards the top. Since the scene was in silhouette I used deep colours to depict the trees, rocks, grass, and the peninsula in the mid ground. In the very background is the south shore of the river, the Kahnawake reserve.

Bike Path Orange Leaves, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2023 (No. 3565b)

The part of the canal that is adjacent to Lachine is very narrow, and lined with old, original stones. This is in contrast to the rest of the canal which is lined with smooth concrete. When I rode over the footbridge and saw this scene I knew I had to paint it. Using a piece of the st Armand paper, I captured the soft textural quality of trees and their colourful reflections in the water. It started to rain quite steadily, but by some stroke of luck the tree that I was standing next to completely blocked the rain drops. I almost packed up thinking the painting would be ruined, but not a single drop hit the paper!

Canal Fall Reflections, watercolour 4 3/4 x 6.5", rough press st Armand, October 2023 (No. 3570)

 

On the way back, the sun was illuminating the tree tops against a dark blue-grey sky. On the right is the train bridge that I have painted many times, for example back in April on a windy day. Unfortunately, I was really rushing this one because the rain was starting up again and there was no convenient tree to block the rain drops. Anyways, I'm glad to have tried the scene, and its probably not the last time I paint this train bridge!

Gloomy Fall Day Canal Bridge, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2023 (No. 3569b)