Some soggy paintings in Montreal

There was definitively no way to go paint watercolours in Montreal today with constant rain and thundershowers. Or was there? After investing in rain boots, rain pants and a rain jacket, I tested the theory by bike. At Park Girouard, also known as park NDG or Vimy park, they had a 4 x 4 meter awning set up with nothing under it, so I could set up my bike there and make a few paintings. This one shows the baseball diamond next to the central brick structure, with plenty of rain coming down. Throughout the day I tried to keep warmth in the colours to avoid things seeming too dreary.

Baseball diamond rainy day, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2024 (No. 4006a)

 

Looking down towards Sherbrooke there was a lot of slick brickwork on the ground, grass and trees. I left the central area white to provide a bit of visual contrast, and to break up the continuous greenish grey. It was really coming down hard, so I waited for the rain to abate before moving on.

Tree in park Girouard, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2024 (No. 4007b)

 

It didn't take long before the deluge returned, and I had to find shelter again to make more paintings. This time I stood under the structure at Westmount park looking out at the pond. A fence with vines was in the foreground. The pond has an odd raised area, like a water-bridge you can see in the foreground behind the fence. It was awfully difficult to paint, I was cramped up into a little corner where there was rain protection.

Westmount park pond with fence, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2024 (No. 4007a)

Waiting out the thunderstorm I made one more from the nook, this time looking out to the left, where you can see the weird water bridge/platform. The added bonus today was a complete lack of people, normally on a nice Saturday this location would be a zoo.

Water bridge in pond, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2024 (No. 4006b)