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