Port of Montreal administration park

The Port of Montreal has a group of administration buildings on a prime spot next to the st Lawrence river. It is hard to get to by bike but not impossible, and hardly anyone even knows that it exists. It is just a large expanse of grass and trees with picnic tables and sitting benches, the way parks are supposed to be. The river narrows and curves here, on its way around st Helen's island and under the Jacques Cartier bridge which you see in the background. The grass was a toasty yellow that I made with raw sienna (PBr7). Raw sienna was a colour I added to my 'summer smoke' palette which had adjustments for the wildfire haze and the arid conditions we are experiencing in summer of 2025. 

Port of Montreal administration, watercolour 6 x 7.5" hot press, August 2025

From the vantage point of 'Port Park' as I will call it for lack of a better name, there are good views of Victoria bridge that connects the island of Montreal to Notre Dame island and the south shore Brossard. The sky was mostly overcast with some ominous clouds brewing up. We have rain on the forecast but not for today. I like how this painting came out looking light and airy, breezy in a way. The pale orange glow in the sky was done with a dilute mix of pyrol orange (PO73) and yellow ochre (PY43). I almost always apply a thin layer of yellow ochre to the skies, and as the sun goes down I tint slightly with the pyrol orange which casts a coral red glow when diluted. I learned about pyrol orange from MacEvoy's Handprint.com. It was one of his favorite pigments along with cobalt turquoise. His website almost convinced me to pick up some cobalt turquoise, but I took cobalt off my palette in 2020 due to its toxicity. 

Victoria bridge power tower, watercolour 6 x 7.5" hot press, August 2025

I found a gravel access road that went under Victoria bridge and came out right where the Bonadventure expressway meets the shore. These concrete dividers and rocky break-water signified the end of the pathway, it seemed to be the kind of place that one is not allowed to be, however, I was careful to look for signs... it was a clear path from the sidewalk up on Chemins Moulins, down the gravel path, and to this spot. There was even a port-o-let right here. Anyways, neat location, and I got an up close view of the power tower foundation in the river, and the new Champlain bridge in the background. I embellished the colours with a few flourishes of magenta (PV55) and green (PG7) paint in the water, and a splash of pyrol orange (PO73) in the sky.  

Power tower Champlain Bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" hot press, August 2025