Greek Restaurant Nikas

 

The alley from Maisonneuve street popped out onto Sherbrooke street in front of a Greek Restaurant called Nikas. I have been there a few times with friends and family years ago, they make an authentic Greek salad (Tomato and olive oil) with a selection of kebabs served with rice, potato and tzatziki sauce. When paining these lower-level corner stores, I start with the upper edge of the top floor, then sketch out the shape of the sidewalk. In this case the store was on a corner, so there was a two-point perspective on the horizontal lines. The restaurant facade was a complicated jumble of roofs, signs and windows, I could not even tell where the entrance was! The west-facing part of the sign and roof was badly faded which I tried to depict by mixing the blues with raw sienna. I put raw sienna back on my palette after reading my own blog from PEI last summer I remembered about how good it is. 

There are many kinds of raw sienna on the market, the good one will have a warm toffee/caramel colour and lower chroma (slightly greyish), with perhaps a grainy texture to it. Most all of them have the pigment code PBr7, although the names will vary widely. I bought about ten tubes of yellow ochre (PY43/PY42) and raw siennas and tried them all, but only two of them suited me. The raw sienna from Daniel Smith, and the yellow ochre from Da Vinci. Recently I got yellow ochre from Shin Han (PY42) and it was identical to the Da Vinci one. If you want to just test out a lot of paints, some companies like Daniel Smith provide a testing card... it costs a little but has small samples of most all their paints. Jane Blundell's website also has a good resource, she seems to own every paint there is and made test swatches. 

Greek Restaurant Nikas, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

Alley oops

There are still a few old car washes on Maisonneuve street along the bike path, this one has red bricks painted grey at the bottom where they cover up the graffiti. Since the car wash was still open for business, I could set up just next to the sidewalk in front of the adjacent alley and make a painting. It took longer than I thought so I had to stand there for some time hoping no car wanted to park where I was standing, or a car makes a sharp turn out of the car wash. I got the painting done, the chair on the bottom left was the last detail. I had raw sienna (PBr7) on my palette which really helped with the subtle shades of grey. 

In the car wash, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

And here is the scene looking up the alley. The building on the left used to have an elaborate mural done in pastel tones, but the graffiti artists obviously didn't like it and plastered the mural with tags. Then the owners used stock green paint to roll over the whole mess, hence the two-toned wall you see in the painting. After doing this painting I walked my bike up the alley and noticed it was a 'green alley' that is a program that Montreal has, where they install garden boxes and take out strips of asphalt to plant things. 

Coloured Alley, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

There is a pedestrian bridge over the train tracks at the end of Grand Boulevard. I was standing in the shade looking up at the odd angles when a train went by and I decided to make a painting of the scene. As usual, I replaced the graffiti with my initials and made it look better than the original graffiti by adding magenta (PR122) and violet with dabs of sapphire blue (PB15). 

Walkway overpass, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

 

Curio Folio: Impossible Colour (blureye)

You may have heard of impossible shapes, they are optical illusions that fool your eyes into seeing a shape than can not exist. The infinite staircase is a good example, by Escher. For my Curio Folio series I thought it would be a good idea to create an impossible colour, one that theoretically can not exist based on considerations of the rods and cones of the human retina. Working on the premise that certain types of squids have additional cones that allow them to see invisible parts of the spectrum, I reasoned that I could produce a similar sensation of an impossible colour for humans. After making some test paintings and showing them to one of the squids at the University research aquarium, with permission from the professor in charge, I determined that a combination of 3 dimensional shape and reflective iridescent pigments would be required to allow humans to see the impossible colour. In the painting, the center of the impossible shape is actually pure white, but if you look at it long enough, and blur your eyes a bit, then the center of the shape will fill up with small dots, then, if you are patient enough, the impossible colour will appear. It took me some time to see it. It was hard to describe, like cyan but with shimmering tones of magenta and yellow... visually it was the equivalent of peppermint ice cream, or maybe cherry cream soda, its hard to describe in words unless you can see it for yourself. The only thing left is to name the colour, since the colour is closest to being blue red or yellow, it should be called blue-red-yellow. or just blureye for short. 

Curio Folio: Impossible Colour (blureye), watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

Curio Folio: Train Gremlin

 

This year, I started assembling my Curio Folio, its a collection of real-life oddities that you have never seen or heard of before. Adding to the authenticity of the series, I provide original watercolour paintings in lieu of photographic evidence which is often not possible for various reasons. On a recent trip by train to Toronto, I had the fortune of sitting in seat 11A which is considered to be the luckiest seat on an airplane because people who sit in seat 11A will often survive crashes. So I was feeling pretty good until I saw this train gremlin clinging to the outside of the train. Its one eye was hanging out, it had a dopey smile on its face, and it was holding a screwdriver which did not bode well for the safety of the train. I called over the train attendant who took a quick look but the gremlin had popped its head below the window. Patiently, I waited until I could take some photos with my smartphone camera, and then, I actually showed the photos to the attendant who quietly told me not to worry or say anything, and then proceeded to delete the pics off my phone. Since photos clearly weren't allowed, I did this watercolour painting, and would you believe it, the darn thing posed for me with its screwdriver the whole time. Later, I caught a glimpse of the train attendant reaching out of the emergency door with a large net, like for fishing, but I don't know if they ever caught the thing. In the end, lucky number 11A held up and we made it to Toronto Union station on time, with only a few screws loose. 

Curio Folio: Train Gremlin, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025 

Train crossing signs

 

After painting in and around the Westhaven neighborhood,  I was heading back to NDG when I saw this incredible scene of a bunch of signs, Montreal style, at the train crossing. My first thought was 'don't you dare try and paint this scene', but I succumb to my worst instincts and set up the bike and started painting. I figured, if I am going to paint this scene, I had better paint every single sign in it. Behind me and to the right were the dumpsters I have periodically painted, but today, with the heat, they were emanating a dreadful smell. Not to mention, the sun was beaming down from the left on a hot and muggy day. Pressing on, I outlined each sign with the small #2 brush, then filled in the various colours... yellow, orange, grey, red, followed by some detailing and textures. It is intimidating, when you see the pedestrian crossing sign at the top, then all the confusing warnings regarding the train tracks. As usual I embellished the orange signs, making the arrows go in all directions. In this way, you get the true feeling of being in Montreal. I call that shade of orange 'Montreal orange' it is a blend of pyrol orange (PO73) and benzi orange (PO62). With rain in the forecast, I might do some more 'Curio Folio' paintings, I have several topics of curiosity to share with you soon. 

Train crossing signs, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025 

Westhaven neighborhood, Loyola-Westhaven Park

 

Westhaven is a small neighborhood just south of the train tracks near Loyola Highscool and Loyola Campus where I work. This scene shows a recycling bin and post box in front of the local grocer, City Fruterie, and Harley street in the background. It took some time to work up this scene, I liked the contrast between green and red. To compose the scene, I cut off the horizon line where the road turns instead of showing sky. This focuses the composition on the objects, like a still-life painting on a sidewalk. 

Post box and recycle bin, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

I will remember painting this scene because I got to meet Cynthia, one of the people who basically helped save this piece of land from development. She was part of a lobby to the local government, and local businesses, not to mention the Loyola School, to avoid development and instead use it for community gardening, and for teaching purposes. Those initiatives were successful and the trees that were planted there, I painted the new trees last month, were part of student efforts to plant and learn about the land. These flowers are also planted by the community near the sidewalk, each time I go by it is more and more beautiful. In the painting, I started by doing the background elements, including the red Corvette at the auto-shop, the stop sign, then finished with the flower garden. It took a lot of careful brush work. So you can see the two different elements together. Funny thing, Cynthia was saying how much trash she and others have removed from the site including toilets on the sidewalk. Feeling slightly guilty about it, I did not mention to her that I painted the toilette back in March, maybe I should have helped clean it up instead! 

Flowers in Loyola-Westhaven park, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

Lactalis Canada is a milk and dairy producer down on st Jacques street, I have painted the silos several times before. Every so often we get a card in the mail from the company that explains the warning alarm system, if we hear it, we are supposed to close all the windows. Apparently they have some dangerous coolant that would create a hazard if there was an accident. Nothing has ever happened to my knowledge, but it made me wonder why they approved a massive condo development just down the street. 

Lactalis four silos, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025 

 

The Lactalis structure has the look of a factory that has expanded periodically over the decades. Some of the old construction looks early 20th century, and modern attachments were made to the flanks. In the center, you see this jumble of different constructions, it was a time when they put craft work into the building. Bright maroon shingles, and yellow ochre brick are complemented by arched and circular windows. I changed the signage to my initials PJD... often I do this with signs, or by changing graffiti to be my initials in the painting. 

Lactalis Facade, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025  

Ride across the river, not much farther

 

Across the river, which can be reached by the ice-control bridge path going from Nun's island, there is the south canal which also has a bike path. In this view, you see the end of the Champlain bridge going down into Brossard or Longueil, it spans the south canal. I am standing on the long bike path that stretches all the way from Kahnawake Mohawk reserve to st Helen Island. Today though, the east direction to st Helen island was blocked off for construction. To paint wild flowers like this, one has to leave all the white and coloured free by painting the green foliage around the shapes. 

Wild flowers near bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

What could I do but stand at the construction fence blocking the way and make a painting. To show my disdain, I included the port-o-let! In fact, the south canal smelled like raw sewage today, so the whole place kind of reeked and I was glad to turn around. 

Construction near bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

Back on Nun's island, I found a new pedestrian area where I could set up and paint in relative peace. Just the sounds of cars, trucks, and commuter trains rumbling by overhead, and noisy seagulls from the river. The mountain in the distance is probably Sutton mountain, but it could be mount st Hilaire, its always hard to tell. If you notice the strange pink thing on the bottom right, its because this was done on the front side of "Apple Eye, Shrimp in the Sky." For this summer I cut a number of 22 x 30" abstracts for more location painting paper. The original painting was okay, but it clearly needed more shrimp in the sky. 

Champlain bridge south view, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

 

Just to the left of the bridge scene, there was a very small island of rocks with some foliage, and the gulls were taking advantage. The entire time, these gulls were making loud gull-noises, that distinctive screeching caw-sound. It was good to be close to the water for a change. 

Gulls on rocks, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

On the way back, I noticed this scene out of the corner of my eye. Luckily there was a decent footpath down to the shore and a spot to set up my bike and paint the scene. Its probably for lazy people who want to fish here. The chair was an ornate wicker chair, dyed in a blue-green. Brand new, this chair must have been nice, now its faded and weather beaten. If you follow my blog you know I like painting random chairs in the city. For example, 'Field Work' done near Harley street was a good one.

Chair near River, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025 

Montreal International Jazz Festival ... as seen by an artist

When I left on my bicycle to head down to the Montreal International Jazz Festival on Friday evening, the sun was setting on Walkley street, which normally would have made a good painting but I had bigger fish to fry tonight. Anticipating that I would be on foot at the festival, I remembered to bring the shoulder strap for my bike bag which contains the paint, paper, brushes, and water. The first scene was near the east entrance, the band on stage was playing a soul/jazz funk and the singer said to the audience that she was from Houston. Luckily, there was a 3/4 moon hanging over the skyline and the sky was crisp and clear. In this view, you just see the side of the stage, and one of the overhead lighting installations. 

 Jazz Fest scene 1, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025 

Moving closer to the crowd I found an angle where I could see the stage and the performers (bottom left in yellow and red light). Standing next to a beer vendor stand, I got a good white light just over my right shoulder. A lot people looked and walked past, one person said, good job, keep going! The idea here was to show Montreal... the two skyscrapers in the background with the brilliant night sky... and the jazz fest, illuminated in red and orange light. The crowd is just suggested in the bottom right. As I pained, the brush strokes became synchronized to the music, a fusion of jazz and paint began. 

 Jazz Fest scene 2, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025 

Just down the street (Clarke street, shut off to cars obviously) there was an old Airstream camping trailer converted into a food stand. I checked various angles before settling on this front view. I had to find a spot with a white light over head, and away from all the port-o-let toilets that were just behind me and to the right. It was a complex scene to paint and it took some time. First I established the outline with the #2 brush, then proceeded to fill in the background elements including the TD building lit green, and the pale magenta light from the overhead installations. The foreground food stand needed a metallic shine with texture. Seven figures complete the scene, including two people working in the stand. All the bits and pieces seemed to have come together. My arm was almost asleep after this one! 

Jazz Fest scene 3, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025 

You may be thinking, wouldn't it be easier to take pictures and paint them at home instead of painting on location? Perhaps, but each brush stroke in this painting was synchronized to the beat of the nearby jazz band that was playing full-on jazz 'improvisation style'. That entails a chaotic mix of brass instruments and jazz piano with guitar, every now and then playing parts of a familiar song until blending into another melody and another beat. The similarity between jazz and painting was evident as I painted this one. For example, the building in the top right became a patterned-abstraction in my painting. It was quite the trip. Of course, there were people smoking pot nearby which may have contributed to the effect. 

Jazz Fest scene 4, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025 

Off to the side of the action on st Catherine street, there was a small spot set up for buskers, that is, amateurs who could plug into an amp and do their own thing for spare change. The fellow, seen in the bottom left playing guitar, was wearing sun glasses which I thought was kind of cool especially with the moon overhead. The triangular building is an iconic shape on the Montreal skyline, it had strong orange-yellow light bands. I did a page on techniques of night painting, one thing I mentioned was to stick with it, because the illusion is only complete when the last brush stroke hits the paper. You have to stay with the plan and trust the result. As I rode home, I figured it would be lucky if one of these paintings worked out, and now that I see them in the blog it seemed they all worked out! I hope you enjoyed looking at the art, and maybe get the chance to visit the festival, or at least, listen to jazz some time!

Jazz Fest scene 5, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025 

More haze around Decarie

 

The sky once again had that orange-yellow tint that I replicated with a diluted wash of yellow (PY154) and orange (PO62) paint. You can see the dense rush-hour traffic on the Decarie autoroute which is below ground level. I'd rather be standing by my bike painting this scene than sitting down in a car stuck in the traffic. To complete the illusion of yellow-glow, I added yellow tinting to the tops of the vehicles, and over the asphalt. When painting this many cars I try to capture the patterns and shapes rather than exact details. 

Hazy day Decarie, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025
 

 

Looking to the south from the same spot, this is the view down Decarie Blvd where rows of cars were waiting to turn and get into NDG. Busses were also plentiful, the Villa Maria metro station is just to my left from this position. With scenes like this, the perspective and the scaling of the objects is tricky, to get it close I hold up the brush to find the angles, and then hold up the paper to see the relative position of things. 

View down Decarie Blvd, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025
 

 

For those of you who don''t know, I completed a series of paintings at each of the 68 stations of the Montreal Metro, that link takes you to a page summarizing all the blogs, mostly done from 2020 - 2022. The page has more than 250 views which is a lot for my blog, so it must be somewhat popular. During the pandemic it was one thing to do, and in fact, the absence of traffic, people and clear blue sky made for some great painting conditions. At the time, this metro was under construction so the best I could do was a winter scene of it behind construction fences. The concrete was so clean here after the renovation that I hardly knew how to best paint it, usually the concrete is toasty and stained. If there is one thing I learned from painting all the metro stations, its how to paint concrete!

 Villa Maria station complete, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025
 

Infrastructure paintings around aqueduct

Running through Verdun from the river is a long aqueduct that ends right around where the highways meet and there is an electrical station. There was a lot going on in this scene, with a building, trees, the driveway and sidewalk, then the station itself which is a tangle of posts and wires. Seeing the perspective though the trees is important here, everything was on a two-point perspective meaning that things are drawn out to the left and right. I used to only paint things square-on to avoid perspective as much as possible, but I got a lot better at it over the years. 

Electrical station Verdun, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

A large field sits adjacent to the aqueduct, one can safely assume there is a water reservoir underneath else the land would have been developed. Its also raised up about 4 or 5 meters from street level, so there is clearly something underneath this enormous field. It is used to play cricket, and offers up good views of the downtown panorama. For composition, I included a sports bench at the bottom left to give an angle and some foreground depth element. The grass was quite dry, parts of it were painted with yellow-orange (PY110).

Aqueduct field, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

Here is one of many such structures next to the aqueduct, in fact, there is a whole building that looks like a castle almost. A tall fence separates the aqueduct from Verdun so the sight lines are limited. At night the buildings are lit up, I eyed the scene once at night but passed on it. Instead, I did a painting called 'Moon over power station' that turned out well, and I just noticed that blog had 67 views. I notice that the older blogs seem to accumulate more and more views which is cool. I will keep it going. 

Aqueduct structure, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025 

Happy Canada day! Painting in Verdun

 

Its Canada day, so what better painting to do than one of a pile of tires... at the local Canadian Tire store in Verdun. The real Canadian Tire sign has an inverted red triangle with a green maple leaf on the top, but I used artistic license to change it to the center piece of the Canadian flag. And there was something for everyone in this scene, I got to paint two more dumpsters, red and green. The rest of the scene is typical Verdun with its tall three-level condos clad in brown brick surrounded by plenty of green trees. Verte et Brun is the nickname of Verdun. 

Canadian Tires, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

 

This flower shop is on the lower floor of a triplex on Wellington, the bike path is running perpendicular from this point. Canadian tire is just behind me on the left. Getting all the shades of brown and brick textures was a lot of fun... I started mixing the green umber (PBr7) with burnt sienna (PR101) to get the right colour. The little balconies had ornate iron railing painted black. 

Flower Shop Wellington, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

 

On the Verdun street bike path there is a fresh fruit and vegetable market called dépanneur Regina. Like many of the shops it is on the bottom level of a triplex. Wellington street, which runs parallel to Verdun street about two blocks south, was closed off from traffic to create a sidewalk sale for pedestrians. 

Fruit Store Verdun path, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025 

Elevated train and other odd scenes

The new elevated commuter train dominates the skyline in and around Point st Charles. In this scene, you see it soaring over Wellington street with the rusty old train bridge in the middle. It was a complicated scene to paint, I started with the light pole and then crossed it with the train bridges. Working up the detail with a small #2 brush, I finished with pops of green and orange, and my initials in graffiti on the rusty bridge. Compared to the last location, it was quite noisy here with all the traffic. 

El over Wellington, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

 

In the massive train-car depot at the end of Point st Charles, there are some weird structures, I saw them from the train on the way in last week, then found a good spot to stand and paint them today. On the left are yellow and maroon train cars, in the center is some kind of tall processing tower, on the right are massive silos connected by booms and tubing. It was almost an illustration this one, I established the detail with the #2 brush, then worked in the colour layers. The reflection on the silos is actually a simple two-tone wash with a strip of paper showing through. 

Odd structures, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

 

Lastly, I found this scene in the shade, it is looking up at the elevated train towards the south. The whole painting was about the sweeping arc, so I started with that by using a 1 inch wide brush loaded with the warm grey. If you start with the brush horizontal, moving to the right and then up, it creates the arc shape in one brush stroke. The rest of the painting was filler, although I should say the sidewalk really turned out well. I must have painted sidewalks thousands of times by now, they appear in many of the location scenes in Montreal! 

Sweeping curve, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Train depot and the real Hipster hangout

Down in Point st Charles, known simply as 'The Point' to locals, there are great views of the train depot. I was reminded of the location upon returning from Toronto on the VIA train, it went right past a lot of these scenes. I often scout out locations from the vantage point of the train when I am on it. If you follow my blog you will remember this train depot on a cold day, in that blog I lamented the difficulty of the conditions due to severe wind chill. Thinking today would be better I headed down there by bike and made this smaller version of the scene on a vertical format. In fact, the wind was so strong that this one was a challenge too, the paper kept blowing up and down despite the elastic holding it down. Once again, the turquoise train was in the foreground and I quite enjoyed making the colour with variations of phthalo green (PG7) and indo blue (PB60).

Train depot summer, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

I was painting in and around the hipster brew pub a few weeks ago, but this spot is the real hipster hangout. The building is long and narrow, I painted it before, in this version I was looking at a perpendicular angle from the sidewalk at one of the store fronts and the restored land in the foreground. It used to be a train maintenance building, now it houses community run shops and spaces. Someone was playing jazz music on a clarinet at one of the cafes here. 

 Hipster hangout, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

A little further towards the city and I found this view of the downtown skyline (that is mount Royal in the distance) with a sound barrier next to the train yard. It was remarkably silent here, almost complete silence with a pleasant breeze and warm sun. 

Sound barrier, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Tall tree and shadows near canal

This enormously tall tree is growing right next to the Lachine canal near the bridge where I painted the graffiti. I composed the scene with about 3/4 sky and 1/4 ground on a portrait format. Portrait means tall and narrow (vertical) rather than landscape format which is horizontal. The idea was to create a sense of vastness in the sky, with the canal just snaking along the ground next to the grass and trees. To get the yellow highlights on the top of the tree I daubed on the vanadium yellow (PY184). 

Tall tree canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

My shadow was being cast onto the surface of the canal as the sun got low. The colour was more of a greenish hue, I mixed navy blue (PB60) with umber (PBr7), but then made the mistake of adding a dab of burnt umber (PBr7) which made a charcoal hue. Next time I am down there I will try this one again. 

Shadow in canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

These trucks were parked in the depot, with the sun in the background. The shadows were coming out at interesting angles due to the position of the sun and the perspective. It was a challenge to see if I could make a dramatic painting out of parked truck trailers. As it had rained heavily earlier in the day, there were puddles everywhere in the gravel lot. 

Truck shadows, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Remains of the lake and other scenes

The island of Montreal in the 16th century was covered in lakes and rivers including the 4 km long Otter lake, or Little st Pierre lake. Eventually the Lachine canal brought the end of the lake, which is now occupied by highway 20, the Turcot interchange, and some light industrial zoning. For years, I have rode past this inconspicuous looking drainage ditch near the truck depot beside the canal, the ditch was part of the Turcot project that saw a complete rebuilding of the road and restoration of much of the nature surrounding the highways. Now this ditch is surrounded in lush greenery and trees. In some ways, it represents what remains of the lake. 

Remains of the lake, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

Where the highway off ramp rises up over the canal, there is a tall retaining wall that got covered in massive sections of graffiti. In this case its my initials, and the year spray-painted on the bike path. Unlike graffiti artists, who commit vandalism, I put paint on the paper not the walls! The main subject matter was actually the interesting plants growing in the strip of grass next to the retaining wall, there were a variety of cone flower plants and other types.  

Growth near path, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

I don't usually paint graffiti very specifically, but in this case it seemed funny that someone put a friendly looking cartoon ice cream cone on the supporting pillar under the bridge. Just past this post is the Lachine canal bike path and the canal itself. To make the concrete colours I use a lot of umber (PBr7), it is a paint with the colour of tea with milk, and the consistency of chunky mud! 

Ice cream graffiti, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Cool pool for a fool

 

When I got back from my exciting walk downtown Bolton, where I saw a squirrel, shops, and boarded up houses, I was extremely hot and sweaty due to the record breaking temperatures. Then I walked past one of the neighbor's yard who has a small pool. Several people walked by and I had my joke ready (If I cant swim in it, at least I can paint it), but nobody asked me what I was doing! Psychologically, my body cooled down just staring into the shimmering turquoise water. It was all I could do not to hop the small fence and canon-ball in there. When thinking about this year's extreme heat wave, this is the painting that will come to mind. 

Cool pool, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

Walk downtown, excitement galore

You would be surprised how much excitement there is in downtown Bolton, like this squirrel running across the road near the cemetery. In the previous blog, I mentioned how every painting should have some kind of idea to connect with the viewer. When I saw this scene at first, the trees seemed like interesting with different shades of green, and the road had a cool 'S' shape. But when the squirrel ran across... I was like, I have to paint this scene. Squirrel... running across a road. As interesting as this is, perhaps no painting will ever beat my Harley Truffles, a painting of dog poo next to toilette on the sidewalk. 

Squirrel running across a road, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

This fire-station, which is fairly new in Bolton along Highway 50 near Columbia way, was merely an excuse to paint a field of wild flowers. Plenty of cars were going by including the fire people who parked up there and got out. I don't mind being seen, in fact, it can be fun for someone to see an artist painting things in their community. 

Fire-station on hill, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

Sitting near the bridge in a recently renovated patio area, I got this side-view of the Black Bull pub and eatery. As I painted, the proprietor was setting up the umbrellas hopeful for some patrons to arrive and grab a cold one on a hot day. In the background, there is another row of shops and restaurants including the old Main Street station pub that has been closed for some time now. I did a painting of the Main Street station from photograph a long time ago, you can see in this blog. Before I started painting on location, like 1994 and earlier, I took photos and worked on them from home. Since 1995 on-wards, I've been painting almost exclusively on location. 

Black Bull, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

 

The colours were pretty neat on this ice cream store-front, variations of magenta and red against the old red bricks and brown shingles. In downtown Bolton, many old houses were converted into shopping space. In 1989, they built the courtyards of Caledon which is a dedicated mall on the corner. I did a painting of the interior of the Courtyards years ago. If you are noticing the greens being brighter than before its because I added vanadium yellow (PY184) to my palette for the summer, its extremely light and bright, almost like a cadmium pigment but non-toxic.

Ice cream Queen street, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

 

Okay, these are not boarding houses, but boarded-up houses. The whole block was boarded up and most of it demolished, just these three houses, and one up to the left, remain. I am not sure if the plan is to make condos here, or rather, make it a flood-control basin which would be a lot smarter than condos. Being at the bottom of the valley and adjacent to the Humber river, this part of the village is extremely prone to flooding. In fact, I saw quite a few old houses boarded up around the old downtown core. 

 Boarding houses, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Walk in the Bolton Forest

With the heat wave in full effect, I smartly took a walk in the Bolton forest which offered a bit of reprieve from the strong sun and stifling heat. Most of the path is surrounded by greenery, except for this grove of pine trees. The sloping ground was covered in pine needles and there was practically no foliage other than a leaf here and there. Pine trees have short branches poking out from their trunks, like step ladders. I used so much yellow and green on this day it was neat to do a brownish painting.  

Pine grove, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

To do the first pine grove painting, I had to apply the highlight areas as an under-painting and let it dry before adding the shadows, trees, and textures. In the meantime, I looked down the hill and saw this neat scene of vines criss-crossing some pine trees. I completed this painting in one go. First, I used vanadium yellow (PY184) with green (PG36) and the background, and build up layers of darker green, and the red-brown elements of the ground. Finally, I did the vines and trees with free lines to keep it looking natural. 

Pine trees and vines, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

Most of the path through Bolton forest looks a lot like this... the path itself is about 2 meters wide and the city has manicured it to prevent overgrowth. Its a gentle path and far enough from the foliage. I was the only one out there on this day, Partly because it was a weekday afternoon, partly because it was stinking hot. 

Path through forest, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

This tree had a surprising shape, almost grotesque, there was even one branch that had kind of grown through another branch over the decades. Maybe I exaggerated a little here, the shape, but the idea was to covey a sense of surprise and discovery. When deciding to do a painting or not, I generally think about what the idea is supposed to be, nowadays I even think about what I will write in the blog before I start a painting! 

Gnarly Tree, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

 Painting this creek through the forest, looking down a steep embankment, turns out to be one of the hardest paintings you can do. Its about the fourth or fifty time I've tried it. This time, I started with the river in the bright reddish highlight colour, then surrounded it in earthy tones and built up the green. Once the washes were mostly dry I daubed in the trees and leaf texturing, and detailed the rocks and water flow in the creek. I think it worked out okay this time. I would have gone down to get a better view but I was wearing shorts, and it was a very steep embankment here. Perhaps there is a creek somewhere in Montreal I can go paint, although I am not aware of one on the entire island. 

Creek through forest, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025