Blue-violet butterflies in the city

After painting the pastel skies and haze around the Montreal skyline, I was going to leave the area... its the narrow ridge behind the hospital that gives incredible views of the city... when I noticed all these little blue-violet butterflies fluttering in among the wild flowers. It was a tough painting to do, the kind you have to hang in there and finish. The background is a cropped version of the Montreal skyline with a prominent traffic information sign over the highway (with my initials of course). The foreground was the center of attention... I painted the pale blue-violet butterflies first with a dilute mix of sapphire blue (PB15) and magenta (PR122), then dabbed in the basic shapes of the coloured-flowers including pink, white, warm yellow, and cool yellow. Each type of flower had a different shape, texture and background foliage. Using a pointillism technique I daubed in the surrounding foliage making sure to leave a few small specks of white, then applied stem and leaf textures. The sooty, charcoal greys and hard lines of the highway and city contrasted nicely with the soft and colourful flowers, foliage and butterflies. 

Blue-violet butterflies in the city, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025