Ivory tower at night

 

Once again those administrators were in their offices with the lights on, working late at night. I was just a lowly professorial-peon working after hours to get tomorrows slide show ready, while they are no doubt up there making sure the next memo is typo free. Or perhaps someone just left the lights on? Actually, I had an early meeting up in one of those rooms so maybe we were the ones who left the lights on. At any rate, I managed to do this painting with my guantlet mitts, it was actually quite warm but I wanted to practice setting up my gear and completing a painting, kind of like painting with oven mitts. The painting turned out to be quite colourful considering it was a night scene. The sky is a mix of dark blue (PB60) and red-orange (PO73)... for the clouds the mix leans to the orange, for the dark sky the mix leans to the blue. Carbon black was used to create the other dark colours including the bricks, roof, sidewalk, road and trees with their remaining leaves.

Ivory tower at night, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2024

City and District Savings Bank building

 

Now an accounting office, this historic building was once the City and District Savings Bank. Started by the catholic church, it eventually became Laurentian bank and has been successful to this day. The building is right at the end of three streets in Point st Charles (Wellington, Grand Trunk and Centre) across from a small triangular park called square Tansey. Its not the kind of place people go unless they are getting the bus, walking to and from work, or riding their bike like me. Using a 2:1 horizontal format I could show the big central structure in silhouette, flanked by two streets with the foreground park elements. I used to paint silhouette all the time then stopped for some reason. To make the silhouette I used a blend of red ochre (PR101) and indo blue (PB60), then washed it out a bit towards the bottom to create a subtle glow. The subtle glow was what I was missing in the older paintings, I'm talking late 90's...you end up with a muddy void if the silhouette is too dark and thick. Its a fantastic composition, maybe there is some way to haul out a 100 x 50 like Van Gogh did, but 12 x 16 is about the biggest size I can easily fit in the bike pack.

City and District Savings Bank, watercolour 4.5 x 9" cold press, November 2024

Warehouses and storage in Point st Charles

 

Point st Charles still has warehouses and storage areas with some light industrial, especially in the east part of town near the highways and rail yards. In the background you see the tall silos that were converted into climbing walls for energetic hipsters and their kids. The prominent A-frame warehouse on the left dominated the scene and cast a long shadow over the cars which looked tiny in comparison. I don't know what the warehouse is for, but when I looked at google maps it showed a derelict and graffiti covered building with broken windows, whereas today in real life it was totally clean and appeared to be fully operational. A rare instance where new investment came in to refurbish and restore a warehouse back to its original purpose.

Warehouses and silos, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, November 2024

 

Standing in the shadow on a narrow and steep grass embankment next to the road, I made this painting of the sun dipping below the A-frame roof of the warehouse. The paper size is new for me, I used a 2:1 format which is normally used for sea-scapes. In his latter phase, Van Gogh used the 2:1 format, although he was doing 50 x 100 inches. Most of his 2:1 paintings were of fields on the horizontal, and he did at least one portrait on the vertical. So far I like the format, in this case it helped emphasize the line of the A frame roof on perspective, giving a graphic-design feel to the scene.

Warehouse Silhouette, watercolour 4.5 x 9" cold press, November 2024

 

Trying the 2:1 format on the horizontal I made this painting of the shipping containers that go as far as the eye can see from left to right. In the background is the elevated train road. Having tried scenes like this several times before, it has never gone quite right. Its one of those locations where there must be a great painting waiting to happen once it is found. In fact, I could have made a dozen more painting in this area but it was time to pack it in, we lost one hour of light today so the daylight painting is even shorter.

Shipping containers, watercolour 4.5 x 9" cold press, November 2024

Convenience stores in Point st Charles

If there is one thing that defines Québec and especially Montréal, it would be the dépanneur otherwise known as a convenience store or corner store.Quite literally, many of these small shops are located on the corner of a building, often with apartments beside and on top. Some of them have other specialties like craft beer, flowers, deli sandwiches for example. For the most part they make their living from alcohol, cigarettes, lotto tickets, junk food and overpriced milk. Although, if you look around the prices can be lower in a shop like this as compared to the grocery stores. This old buildings looks like early 19th century construction, it has that typical green trim and reddish bricks.

Dépanneur Charlevoix, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2024

The main drag in Point st Charles is the aptly named Centre street. There are like 5 convenience stores on this street alone, and over a dozen of them in this small neighborhood. For variety, I set up on an angle, and painted the bottom part of the sign and portions of the door and window. They city has recently resurfaced most of the roads and completed a wonderful array of bike paths. I could easily get around town safely and make these paintings.

Dépanneur Centre, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2024

Technically not a dépanneur this one is branded as a mart (marché) since it has produce and perishables like spices and sauces on its shelves, along with the usual lotto tickets and other vices. To avoid a frontal scene which would have put me in the shadowed side of the street, I found this angle standing on the sidewalk. It made for a tricky perspective, which I established by holding my brush up to guage the angles. You see the small second story balconies that are typical for such buildings. I tried to get the glare effect on the facade... that occurs when the sun is on an angle, it makes the colours appear to be washed out. John Little the late Montreal painter did the glare effect in one of his paintings so I tried it here. If you saw what this scene looked like in real life, I have to say the painting does it justice and then some.

Marché KC, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2024

Finally some underbelly was found, and it was seedy

At long last, something seedy! This once glorious manor was fenced-up and heavily dilapidated. Broken windows, crumbling stones, overgrown lawn. The structure appears to be some type of derelict heritage property, it is on Sherbrooke west at the corner of Messier. You can see the Jacques Cartier bridge in the background, lower right. The mansion must have belonged to a wealthy family once, it has ornate brick and stone work with detailed window frames, fancy glass, and iron detailing.

Haunted House, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, November 2024

This scene was from back up on Maisonneuve bike path, there is a still active bike shop on the bottom with some apartments beside and on top. A for sale sign adorned the front of the building, whether that meant the bike shop or the whole building who knows. And of course the road was under construction. I noticed that one of the old taverns along Maisonneuve was replaced with apartments, most people would not even notice but I remember it from many years ago. No worries though, Dieu Du Ciel pub just doubled its floor space to accommodate even more thirsty patrons.

Bike shop for sale, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, November 2024

On the way back I noticed this quaint little Cul de Sac (dead end) with interesting buildings and lots of wires coming from the poles. Looking at the map, it is avenue Marchand, just off Fullum bike path heading south from Sherbrooke. I would like to return here and repeat the painting with better conditions, and it may be worthwhile coming back in winter when there is a fresh layer of snow. I think the scene has potential.

Cul de Sac, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, November 2024

Plaster Plaza, several angles

Before I could paint the seedy underbelly of Montreal I had to find it. Out as far as st Denis street and everything was looking decidedly un-seedy... buildings were renovated, sidewalks were new, the streets were clean. A plaster-clad shopping plaza caught my eye, it had the look of something that would be replaced by condos one day so I made some paintings for posterity. The building in question is on the left. I was also practicing the 'John Little' Montreal scene, where you stand on the sidewalk and show both sides of the street with the road and cars in between. Its hard to pull off, so I held the paper up in front of me and kind of traced the basic outlines of the view with my paint brush.

Plaster plaza perspective, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2024

 

From across the busy street I got a better view of the plaster plaza, the stores had really colourful signs and facades. I painted the cars quickly so as to keep the illusion of movement. This was the last of the three paintings I did, the conditions were tough today and adjustments were needed.

Plaster plaza close crop, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 202

 

The painting surface got so moist and nothing was drying, this one kept loosing its definition and I kept painting over to get the contrast back. In cool humid weather, the paper can get 'juiced' as I call it, meaning that the paint washes start to saturate the paper and the paint itself get absorbed as if by a sponge. You see in the previous painting, I made an adjustment to my technique by applying strong lines first, then filling in with smaller blocks of colour. That is my 'winter' technique, although today it was above zero. John Little used oil paints which are easier to work with in winter, although more difficult to use on location.

Plaster plaza panorama, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2024

 

In search of the seedy underbelly of Montreal

 

Learning more about the late Montreal painter John Little, inspired me to go out today and paint the seedy underbelly of Montreal. He painted Montreal as it was in the 50's and 60's when the industrial boom was waning and the highway projects were having their toll on the fabrics of communities. One such project was the massive Decarie sunken highway project that connected autoroute 40 to Verdun. There was once a grant theater here, called Snowdon, but now only the facade remains, it conceals luxery condos in what used to be the theater. At least they made the developers keep the facade and refurbish the sign.

Snowdon Theater Autumn, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2024

 

Standing in the same spot but looking north, here is another painting of the gas station, featuring several shades of yellow. There is a seedy looking factory in the background with a mural of a bulldog on it (not seen in painting). I managed to get in some details like a person putting gas in the car, and my version of the Shell logo. The conditions surprised me a little, it was bitterly cold at times and very moist. I brought a variety of gloves along just in case.

Not so mellow yellow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2024

Light at the end of the street

 

There was a late painter named John Little who made oil paintings of Montreal circa 1950 -60's. If you search 'john little montreal' and click images, you will see some of his prolific works. Fascinated that there was another painter of Montreal, I studied his paintings and came to some conclusions. He apparently only painted in the winter, which is rare and odd, since painting in the winter is harder to do than painting in the summer. He painted on location which I could tell by the colouration and perspectives that he captured, and I knew from experience that he was standing on the sidewalk, slightly off to the side as I do when on location. Furthermore, the size (30 x 24" or 16" x10) is about what an oil painter is going to do on location. He was quite a draft-person, nearly an illustrator in how precise the paintings were. Although the scenes appear to be simple at first glance... buildings, sidewalks, cars and streets, they are in fact one of the hardest things to get correct. Composing the wide, sweeping roads, getting the sizing of the cars right, and having the buildings on either side of the street line up properly are very hard to depict especially if he was working on location as I suspect. Perhaps he did take photos but in the paintings I see the subtle blue tones in the snow shadows, and reflected light on the sides of cars that typically would not show up in a colour photo. Colour photography existed in the 1960's but it was probably in its infancy compared to later years. 

So just after work I got to my bike and saw this scene, the yellow and orange trees were illuminated by the last light of the day. Starting with the colourful tree-tops I filled the rest of the painting in with grey, blue, purple and black. As it dried, I applied the darker branches and leaves texture. Apparently I forgot to initial the painting, although it was very moist upon completion. I might put the initials on now that it is dry, who knows it may be worth money one day!

Light at the end of the street, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2024

World Inspired Landscapes: Portugal

To close out October the other day I completed countries starting with the letter "P" with the World Inspired Landscape: Portugal. When I typed 'Portugal landscape' into google all the pictures that came up were coastal scenes that belonged on a screen-saver or in a travel brochure. The scenery looked nice but a lot of the paintings in this series depict the coast and the sea in one way or another. Having been near Portugal in the past (I was in Madrid in 1998), the landscape seemed to be vast and very dusty, with occasional trees. So I typed 'Portugal desert' into google, and up comes a whole screen of natas, the iconic Portugeuse tart. Made with a yellowish custard in a flaky tart case, the tops are singed with a flame until spots of brown and black appear from the caramelized sugar. It was amusing that google didn't know how to spell...a tart is dessert, an arid sandy expanse is a desert. Like Mom says, dessert has two esses since you always want more! The wordplay gave me an idea for the painting, which shows a "desert in a dessert in a desert." Thus, cacti are growing out of natas tarts that are sitting on a vast expanse of sand. 

Throughout the series I have recounted the colonial history of many countries, in particular Central and South America, the Caribbean and Pacific island nation, and most of Africa which were under colonial rule at one time or another. the Portuguese were among the first of the colonial powers, forming settlements along the gold and ivory coast of West Africa and beginning the slave trade. Eventually they would be mostly displaced by German, Dutch, English and French colonial powers although some of their enclaves remained and even speak Portuguese to this day. Since then Portugal has hit hard times both economically and environmentally. In recent years wild fires have ravaged the landscapes, and just this week deadly floods swept over their neighbor, Spain. Regardless of history, one can only hope that we are all in it together for the future.  

World Inspired Landscapes: Portugal, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, October  2024