Belvédère Outremont sunset view

To better paint the night sky including moon and stars I did a little reading on astronomy and stargazing in Montreal. The fact is, Montreal is in a high 'light pollution' area rating a 9 out of 10 on the scale, making it one of the worst places to see stars at night. But local astronmers listed two locations where the view was a bit better including this spot, called the Belvédère Outremont, and the large park that used to be a landfill in the north east of town (Frédéric Back Park). Today I went to Belvédère Outremont after work and found a large clearing with rock slabs, chairs for lounging, and a wide open view to the west northwest direction. Its one of the few places that the city clears trees around the mountain, so as to not block the view. Several people arrived and snapped some pics with their smart phones. 

West view sunset realist, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, October 2025

In the first painting I used a realist approach by painting the background, letting it dry, then over-painting the clouds and trees. In this version, I used an impressionist technique where I painted the trees first, capturing all the detail in the branches, trunks and leaves, then daubed in the surrounding sky and background vista. In the winter I will have to paint something like this most of the time since the paint wont dry fast enough. Even today, I did the background of the other two paintings, and did this one while they dried. 

West view sunset impressionist watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, October 2025

This painting uses a surreal, colour-splash technique to create vibrant colour and energy. Its never clear how it will work out, in the midst of painting, I really thought it was a disaster and a waste of paper, but then I recalled the Cloud over Trenholme park painting, one of my favorites of all time. In today's painting, surprising colour blooms formed in the clouds and trees which added a mysterious texture to the scene. So I used three different treatments today of the same scene, realism, impressionism and surrealism. If I can make it back to this location in the winter I think it would be a good one. 

West view autumn sunset, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, October 2025