Stormy sky over factory

As the ominous looking clouds were rolling in from the north west, I was trying to calculate how much time there was before the rain started. Luckily it worked out and the first drops came down as I approached the condo on the way back. This was the last one of the trip, its a rather dramatic view of the big concrete factory as seen from the rear view. I painted the frontal view of the factory way back in May of 2020 in the throws of the pandemic. In the background, at the top, you see one of the many overpasses connecting to the Turcot exchange, which is a complex spaghetti bowl of highways. To paint this scene I established an outline with brush and blackish paint (dilute PBk6), then filled in the colours and values. The building was a baby blue, or more accurately, a pale cyan that I made with PB15, PG7, some 'grit' and water. The grit I am referring to is the grayish or brownish paint that accumulates on the palette after making a bunch of paintings. The impressionists called it 'cutting' the paint, which meant they were reducing the chroma. Nobody did it better than Monet who was the master of the pastel tones. Actually, this painting has the appearance of a group of seven painting, just set in industrial ville st Pierre!

Stormy sky over factory, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September  2024