Elevated highway, canal, F condos

After ten paintings or so I was limbered up and ready to paint this scene, like a busker playing another song on his guitar. I thought, "jazz" when I painted this scene. The Peel basin was sparkling from the backlit sun, while the rest of the scene was silhouetted in delicate shades of grey. The condos in the background were the majestic condos I painted a month ago, which somehow became one of the most viewed blogs of the year after Gull over Water North Rustico beach.

Elevated highway cars bus condos, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, September 2024

 

It was a dreary and brutalisk scene, like out of a science fiction movie. The elevated train is a relatively new commuter train that goes across the river to the south shore. I infused the scene with a lot of colour, then neutralized with black and blue to create an almost tye-dyed effect. In the sky I used the Trenholme cloud technique, which is to leave a hard-edge cloud with a soft grey interior. It seemed to fit with the imposing composition.

Elevated train, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, September 2024 

Having rode past this scene hundreds of times, I always get a laugh out of the graffiti on the bridge showing a cartoon squid with a speech bubble saying f**k condos. The graffiti artist must have known that the point of view contained a towering pile of brand new condos in the background. At first I was going to leave the condos black and white, like skeletons, but then I remembered that people live there and its their community too. So I maintained the colour and textures of the buildings while creating a wild and creative, almost abstract arrangement. Anchoring the scene is the Lachine canal, and the end of the rusty old train bridge at the lower right. And by the way, we live in a condo, so its like throwing rocks when you live in a glass house!

F**K Condos, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, September  2024 (No. 3909a)