Old and New, Lachine Canal

With nothing but sun and blue skies in the forecast it looks like a string of good painting days lies ahead. Today it was hot and hazy, with plenty of smog on the horizon. This scene shows the old train bridge that is long defunct, and some of the brand new condo sky scrapers in the background, still with the cranes on top. To depict the contrasting shapes and colours, I did the background painting first to near completion, then painted over with thick applications of red ochre (PR101/PBr7), indo blue (PB60), and carbon black (PBk6). It was fun to apply such dark colours on top the the light and airy condo building. The red ochre paint contains the same chemical (partially hydrated iron oxide) that is found in rust, so its easy to get the colour right! Although I also applied red-orange (PO73) and orange (PO62) to give the brighter pops of colour on the rusted iron structure. 

Old and New, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, July 2024