Scenes along the bike paths in Brossard

To get down to the river there is a long, well maintained bike path that runs under the high-tension power lines in Brossard. Midway, there was an enormous field of brown-eyed susans which I painted from the side view. While it looks simple enough, this painting was a real skill tester. the flowers are painted first, then surrounded by a variety of greens ranging from olive green to dark yellow. Leaving space for purple and yellow flowers, then applying additional textures and filling in the background and foreground completed the scene. The effort reminded me of when I painted the World Inspired Landscapes UK painting of rain drops on the window. The other odd thing, is that you can really see the smog in this paining, with tea-coloured clouds and everything tinted amber. 

Brown-eyed susans side view, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025 (No. 4576a)

Here is a different angle, in the background is the post of one of the high-tension power line supports, and in the middle is the long field of flowers. One nice thing about this bike path was that there was a waterfountain with cold water, so I could refill my water containers. I had a 500mL bottle, a 1L bottle, and 300mL bottle. With all the painting and drinking the water was going fast. It really helped later in the trip when dehydration was starting to set in. I also brought some lunch and some instant coffee on the trip which helped give me a second wind.  

Brown-eyed Susans front view, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025  (No. 4564b)

A lot of the bike path near the st Jacques river was completely surrounded by very tall grass which obscured the view of the river. Here and there a dead tree could be seen above the grass, and the tops of the trees on the opposite side of the river could also be seen. The st Jacques river was a pretty good location, I was not expecting too much based on google map views, and it exceeded expectations. Mostly, it was very quiet and cool, with the earthy smells of nature all around. 

Tall grass dead tree, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025 (No. 4572b)

From park Radisson the bike path also goes northwest, through many acres of dry grassland and small trees. Eventually there was a T junction with what looked like a river, but it actually Lac de La Citière, just an artificial looking pond surrounded by luxury cottages and mansions. Several water spouts could be seen. Paining cascading water is tough, I tried a wet-in-wet approach with some brushwork on top. 

Water spout Lac de La Citière, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025 (No. 4573b)