Digital pop art, patterns, stamps

Another batch of digital artwork made on Sketchbook app on my smartphone. This one is like the Rolling Stones go to the dentist. Say cheese.  

 

A pattern tool allows for textured wallpaper-like effects. It reminds me of an early drawing tool that I used on the original Macintosh computer back in the 80's, a friend of ours had one and I played around with it, first time using a mouse too. 

 

Purple haze on a tablet... in the central area I overlapped smooth and textured features, and figured out how to make small speckles. The frame and other elements are free-hand... or free-finger rather since these are all made with my indec finger. 

 

Initially made in colour, I changed it to black and white to emphasize the amazing textural variations. A stamping tool allows for the feathery-effects and paint splatters. Each feature tool can be customized to control size, density, randomization and even adjust how it looks with heavy or light press on the screen. 

 

More neon-effects done on a near-black background, its like an underwater deep-sea creature. I even signed on the bottom right with a violet neon pen tool. A dark-red thorny pattern was added in a single press using stamp tool. I kept redoing the thorn effect until it looked right. There is a handy undo feature which is obviously a big advantage to digital art. 

 

After establishing bright primary patterns in the background, I tried quite a few things until landing on dark blue pattern overlay. So there were no 'pen strokes' here, just multi-layered patterns, Bohemian-style. 

 

Digital art surrealism, abstract neon

Here are some more digital artworks made while travelling, using my smartphone with the Sketchbook app. This one was meant to evoke Maud Lewis, the late Canadian folk painter, and inspired by the tree-lined walkway in Winnipeg.  

 

In the background, I experimented with perspective... these features lock the drawing on a specified point perspective that can be set in various ways. It was tricky and needs more practice. Overlay created a music-feel to the artwork. 

 

Sitting on the airplane I made digital sketches including this pop-art inspired view in front of me. Keeping the top of the design cloudy gives a surrealistic feel. 

 

A party pinata exploding with confetti, candy and ribbons. By setting the background to cyan, it gave the scene a bright pop of colour. When painting (for real), this cyan colour is not possible, nor is the magenta. The closest paints are cyan green shade (PB16) and quin magenta (PR122). 

 

A hybrid of styles, its Piet Mondrian meets graffiti art. Piet Mondrian was a dutch artist known for grid-like compositions and primary colours. 

 

Discovering the neon-brush tools, this version of my initials is electric! It works best to set the background to near-black, then the neon lines pop off the screen. I also figured out how to add text, along with warping features. Sketchbook app is a lot more powerful than I originally thought, with many dozens of tools that can be customized, and that's just on the free version of the app! 

Flowers, path pylon, live band

Down next to the back patio at my Parent's house there are plenty of flowers growing including tulips, purple flowers, light blue flowers, and a few dandelions. Using lots of yellow (PY184) brightened up the scene. 

Flowers back patio, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

More wild flowers growing on the other side of the creek in the valley, but what caught my interest was a school of minnows darting under the clear water. Its good to see some nature returning to the creek like this, it was once a sterile rain ditch, over the years it eroded and meandered along until nature returned.  

Minnows in creek, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

An unlikely place to spot a pylon, on a path in the middle of a valley-forest. I was ready for it, having painted a lot of pylons in Montreal. This part of the path gets flooded regularly, so the city dropped it off to warn people. 

Pylon path forest, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Some musician 'roadies' were unloading equipment for a live show up at the community center. They didn't seem to mind that I was painting a picture of them hard at work. We never did see the show, it seemed rather elaborate. 

Live band setup, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Looking up towards the radio relay tower and Bolton water tower behind the community center, reminded me of 1996 when Mom took me to an art show up here, and we tried to sell paintings. Although none were sold that day, I made a bunch of paintings on the day... a few can be seen in this blog. Since that was almost exactly 20 years ago, it was interesting to compare the experience. I recall the challenge of painting outdoors back then, compared to now with all the experience I amassed especially in the last six years. 

Bolton towers, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Sunset Turcot Interchange: C'est vraiment Montréal!

It was a colourful sunset on the Turcot highway interchange, as seen from ville st Pierre. Starting with yellow, orange, magenta, and pale blue, I worked up dark browns and greys with variations on burnt yellow ochre (PR102) and indo blue (PB60). Accents of pylon-orange, green, pops of red, and dark sketch elements done in carbon black (PBk6) completed the scene. As I flicked the brush, little droplets accidentally hit the painting, reminiscent of Jackson Pollock, a late American painter who threw paint on the canvas quite intentionally. When painting something like this on location, you just have to be along for the ride, so to speak, and let your brush do all the work. Its a great spot to catch the sunset, albeit a little noisy and smelly, along with the massive construction project that is ongoing. I really liked painting a juxtaposition of bright pylon-orange against a pastel sunset. C'est vraiment Montréal!

Sunset Turcot Interchange, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, May 2026

Sun down moon up, sky colours

Riding down to ville st Pierre with the sun going down and I found myself at one of the many elevated highway ramps, this one in the west direction. The elevated ramps often catch the sunset, and concrete happens to look pretty neat when its illuminated in orange or red-orange. I did a fantastic one last year of the sun setting on Turcot interchange in st Henri area. In this scene, I emphasized the convergening shapes of the ramp and the access road, and contrasted coral orange, purples, chartreuse, and the emerald green pops of car windshields and traffic signs. Cutting through the pastels are bright-red tail lights on passing cars, done with the excellent pyrol red paint (PR254). 

Sundown off ramp, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Here is a scene of one of the many factores-turned-condos along st Ambrose street. I am standing on the Lachine canal bike path looking across. Composing the moon low in the scene was an artistic license thing, in fact, the moon was hanging high today. With near-complete darkness and no artificial lights with me tonight, it was tricky to get all the colours right. Deep purple clouds were rolling in on the horizon. 

Crescent moon condo living, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

In among the soaring new condo towers downtown, there is a new dépanneur on Peel called dépanneur Peel, pretty original name eh? Again, I composed the moon low so as to include it in the scene, near a bright LED street lamp. I painted the yellows and oranges first, then over-painted with darker colours made mostly of burnt yellow ochre (PR102) mixed with carbon black (PBk6) or dark blue (PB60). When painting at night you have to hang in there because its hard to see the effect until the colour blocks are filled in, and only the white and yellow light sources remain. One of my favorite night paintings of the year is Night Goose. It has a lot of views already. I did another good painting of the Sunset over Turcot from st Pierre, I will post it separately. 

Dépanneur Peel crescent moon,  watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Thinking back on my paintings

With a holiday I did some spring cleaning and got into one of my boxes of paintings. It got me thinking back to my paintings from that era, in this example, its London Ontario early 2000's. I was sitting near the corner of Richmond and Dundas, back then I sat on a small camping chair to make paintings, looking to the east direction. It was an overwhelming scene but I gave it my best try, even getting the green light on the traffic lights, and a complicated sign with the word restaurant on it. Even today I would have trouble with such a scene! 

The other reason was to look at the back of my old paintings, as in, can I still paint on the backs of them? Basically every painting had an unused back, although they were mostly 5 x 7", so I went through and trimmer them down and got them ready for a second life. Before doing so, I pulled the good ones out, the memorable ones, and set those ones aside. So it looks like I'll be doing more 5 x 7" this summer. On my catalogue, grey font means I pulled it and painted on back, while strike-through font means I ripped the painting up and put in our composter. Fun fact, 100% rag watercolour paper composts quite well! 

Mallard sleeping, remains of Otter Lake

On the way back today, I stopped by the remains of Otter lake, also once called little Pierre Lake. When they built the Lachine Canal in the 1820's, this lake was drained and eventually turned into a mega highway going through Montreal. At one of the lowest points, adjacent to the canal, there is a drainage ditch which the city preserved and landscaped as part of the Turcot interchange project. Its main role is to prevent the nearby truck depot from flooding, but this Mallard duck was having a good nap in the shade. If you rode past this, it would just be a storm ditch, but knowing its history adds more meaning. I kind of wish the lake were still here, or I had had a chance to see it, but no drawings or paintings seems to remain, just a few ancient maps from the 18th century. 

Mallard sleeping Otter lake, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Nowhere Montreal, bridges, train, factory

Back in the pandemic year 2020 I rode my bike along an old industrial road that is normally hard to access due to heavy traffic and very noisy. Its an industrial area between east Lachine and ville st Pierre, although condo housing is popping up all around due to its location being near the Lachine canal. Due to it being in between a bunch of neighborhoods, I dubbed it 'Nowhere Montreal'. Perusing Google maps the other day, I was looking for a way to ride my bike onto the other side of the Lachine canal, the side you're not allowed to be on! From an access road off st Joseph blvd (in nowhere Montreal) on the east side of the train bridge underpass, there is a direct lane to a grassy ridge leading down to the canal embankments. There are no railing on this side so I stayed away from the edge. I've painted this bridge many times but always from the other side. You can see the bikes going a long across the canal, I could hear cyclists talking to each other. It was mostly quiet and sunny here, but I didn't stay long it wasn't exactly allowed to be here! 

Other side canal train bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

The first painting I did, its the same bridge but further up on Norman street. A red-orange tanker car said Canada on it, but I changed it, and the graffiti to my initials. There was some really old graffiti on this bridge, by SAKE. He used to write everywhere in Montreal (including nowhere Montreal), but most of his stuff is gone now. I used a lot of bismuth vanadate yellow (PY184) which can go over top of other paint layers to create lime-green foliage. Its a bad habit I know, I like the way it turns the rinse water yellow. My rinse water was olive army-green after today!

 Train bridge and rail car, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

An old factory in Lachine's east side used to make giant steel beams for bridges, such as Cartier bridge and Mercier bridge. Massive overhead cranes are all along its front side, they were used to move the beams around and load them onto train cars. I wrote about it in more detail in a blog from last September. This scene is showing the rear of the old factory in perspective. There was an impressive array of different cladding, and bright blue tarps used to fill holes. It seems they are trying to preserve the structure and not let it crumble down. 

Old beam factory perspective rear, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, May 2026

Here is a side view featuring the textured brick wall and aluminum siding with bright yellow door. Along the top runs a long tinted-glass sun roof, presumably to let natural light into the interior. 

Old beam factory side facade, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

This factory is still functional, its called Corbec inc up on Victoria street. Like the other factory, its exterior is a collage of different cladding including old red brick, red and blue aluminum, green-tinted windows, and a giant aluminum sided warehouse looming in the background. It seems to do metal work from what I can tell. In fact, the internet says it is a galvanizing plant. So, toxic runoff. 

Corbec Inc spring, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

 

Lachine in spring, pink tree, canal construction

I've been seeing these pink flowering Magnolia trees all around town, they only bloom for about a week and even that depends on weather. This one is in the backyard of a house that backs onto the old part of the Lachine canal, in Lachine proper. You can see part of the canal retainer wall in the foreground. 

Magnolia tree spring Lachine, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Looking west along the old canal, there is a bike and pedestrian bridge in the foreground, and another footbridge in the background. On the right you see part of st Joseph blvd, and all around are green trees and green grass. I used a lot of bismuth vanadate yellow (PY184) to make all the chartreuse colours today. 

Old Canal Lachine bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

A bike path winds its way along the piece of land between the old canal and the marina. There was a city-plan to 'blow up' this whole sector for five years in order to pave it over with marble interlocking bricks and fountains, but people complained and thankfully so. Its fine the way it is.

Ess shape bike path, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026 

An old industrial plot has sat empty for many years now, but today I saw that an enormous construction pit was dug deep into the earth. For about two or three stories down its a yellow-ochre earthy shale, then it turns to greyish bedrock. Trees would have put their roots down here, now it will end up being a parking garage. It was interesting to see what the land looked like underneath, you see a section of it towards the right of the pit. The back and left had tall retaining walls. 
Lachine pit, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026 

Viger square, maze and ferris wheel

Viger square is a large expanse of interlocking brick with concrete features and a few grassy hills. Looking west gave this creepy tree view, back-lit by a strong sun. Dandelions were blooming which created an ethereal glow. 

Creepy tree Viger square, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Most of Viger square is surrounded by highways and bland condo developments, but this building still had its old-fashioned Victorian-style facade. Working from top to bottom I kept as much detail in the roof features as possible. A small drop of paint in the sky was turned into seagulls to hide the mistake. 

Old facade Viger square, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

They installed ridiculously long benches in Viger square, along with pillow-shaped concrete platforms. Wonder what the idea was other than pumping up the contract price? So it becomes a heat desert in the summer, useless the rest of the year. Better than condos I suppose, its a hard place to get a decent painting but I keep trying. 

Long bench Viger square, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Down at Old Port, its starting to fill up with tourists, so I did a painting here before the crowds get any bigger. On the left is part of an old warehouse turned into a maze, on the right is the Ferris wheel. Orange awnings adorned the front of a corner bistro. 

Maze ferris wheel, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Empty lot flowers, shadow corner

Standing on the corner of Rue de Boisbriand and Rue De Bullion, which is along st Catherine east, there are some gritty urban scenes to paint including this empty lot. Sometime around 2019 according to google maps street view which I consulted afterwards, this was a collection of old buildings and shops, then it was demolished in 2020 to make way for... a field of wild flowers and trees. One can imagine this becoming a condo development, like you see in the background. Painting an empty lot is tricky, somehow it has to be a feature element, so I amped up the contrast and made everything around it grey and purple. 

Empty lot flowers, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Same spot, looking west, there is a view of the back of a famous pub called Les Foufounes Électriques. Live bands were playing folk-rock music from the back patio while patrons cheered them on. All four stories of the back-walls were painted black with graffiti over top. Looking at google street view historically, this scene has been covered in a variety of artworks, it seems to change every year. 

Shadow corner graffiti, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Looking down Rue De Bullion and the entire east wall of the building was in shadow, making all the graffiti and other features pop out. Its been awhile since I got to paint blue shadows... it happens when the sun comes out and the sky is blue, a rare occurrence in Montreal this year! 

Graf wall shadow side, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Pastel colours, Spring rain ending soon?

Thinking it might rain, and it was drizzling a bit, I made a few quick paintings around back of the Benny cultural center after borrowing a few movies. The structure has periwinkle-blue and maroon cladding with pops of pink and yellow. Pale green, cream white, and pink-orange trees were starting to put out flowers and leaf buds. A few dandelions were already up.  

Pastel colour trees Benny, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Looking to the community garden and condos, here is a scene framed by a turbulent cloudy sky. The rain held off for the most part and forecast calls for sunny days ahead. With a long weekend I should be able to get out and paint a few around Montreal, before heading to Bolton for a visit soon.  

Benny community garden spring, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Spring around Lachine canal and Peel Basin

A prominent bridge goes across the Lachine canal on Monk Boulevard, although the graffiti people have covered a lot of it with their names. I was drawn to the sweeping curve of the canal at this point, with a triangle of spring-green grass dotted with dandelions. In the background is part of Ville-Émard on the other side of the canal. 

Spring grass Monk bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

From the same vantage point but looking south, here is a scene of some dragon boats tied up, ready to go! In the background is one of the many factories that got converted to condos. Its trendy to live in a converted factory in Montreal, they have high ceilings and open plans inside.  

Dragon boats ready to go, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

It just occurred to me that the locks along the Lachine canal have names, this one is the Côte-Saint-Paul Lock, not far from the Monk bridge. The water was high in the lock, being held back by enormous wooden doors, with a walking path on top. I sketched out this painting first with paint in order to get the complex geometry to work. 

Côte-Saint-Paul Lock spring, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Down at the the Peel basin, the commuter train, and other trains, rumble by every five or ten minutes. Looking up at the train from this angle was neat, and the trees cast interesting shadows down a grassy embankment. A photographer looked over my shoulder and said, nice work! Some artists talk about how they feel when making art, but the fact is, I actually don't feel anything most of the time. Perhaps there is a sense of anxiety that the painting wont work, its a waste of time and paper etc. On occasion, it occurs to me that I am a painter, and its fun. 

Commuter train spring shadows, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026 

Point park spring river scenes

Next to Lachine there is a marina, protected from the river by a long point with a park on it. I paint there often, usually in spring and summer because its hard to get there in the winter. This one is looking upstream from the end of the park, with some new leaves on an overhanging tree. 

Upstream view Spring, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Looking downstream towards the Mercier bridge, you see one of the many park benches in the foreground. It was a cool and sunny afternoon, quite pleasant. I used dilute indo blue (PB60) for the water, and a mix of indo blue with burnt yellow ochre (PR102) for the park bench, with carbon black (PBk6) for the iron parts. 

Bench Mercier bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Lucky they had this sign, because two people tried to walk this way as I painted. Its a long narrow spit of land that comes off the point park, but the current on both sides is strong and dangerous. Plenty of red-winged blackbirds were cawing and flying around, they love to congregate along the shore. The fresh air here was, well, refreshing... it smelled of river water and fresh earth, without the exhaust fumes from the city. The view here goes on for miles, in the distance, its the south shore. 

No walking upstream view, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Cultural monstrosity, genetically modified fart

We went for a walk today to see the tulip beds up at the Cavendish underpass, but the city had left black tarpaulins on the gardens, and only a few tulips could struggle through. It was quite a disappointment, so I joked that the tulips were cancelled. A cultural cancellation. As I cut open old paint tubes that are mostly empty, its an opportunity to do these funny paintings. The main paint here is lemon yellow (PY175), a slightly whiteish yellow, pleasant for summery scenes. 

Culutre Cancelled, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, May 2026

What does the interior of a monstrosity look like? This painting sums it up. For the design, I emulated a digital drawing I made on my smartphone awhile ago you can see it linked here. On digital, you can go over things no problem, or erase entirely, but in watercolour, its hard to layer things unless you go light to dark, like you see in the painting. Placing the black highlights on last took a bit of courage, it can easily go wrong!

Monstrosinterior, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, May 2026

Starting with orange dots, surrounded by yellow, then circled with brown and filled in with maroon, you end up with... genetically modified farts. Enough said. 

Genetically Modified Fart, watercolour 7.5 x 11" watercolour paper, May 2026  (No. 1473b)