Painting these condos is difficult because they had over 17 floors, but I could only depict about half of that despite my best efforts. At least you get the kind of queasy feeling of looking up at these giant monoliths, it is a scene with a majestic air, perhaps a touch of brutalist architecture. In the foreground there is a light rail train that passed by every 15 minutes or so. To paint this scene I established the tops of the buildings, trying to fit in all five but only getting in about three and and a half of them. Next, I made 17 lines and five columns per building, but in retrospect I needed 34 lines and 10 columns to get in the correct number of windows. My math was 17 x 5 = 85 windows per building, plus balconies and the side windows. At some point during painting I just gave up on the architectural aspects and math and just filled in the kinds of colours and lines that represented the general feel of these massive condos. Stop thinking and paint. I am down on a bike path looking up a steep embankment, which adds an ominous feeling to the composition.
New condos and rail train, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, August 2024
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