Sign three pylons Notre Dame

Its been awhile this location is under massive construction. At least there is a sidewalk going under the highway ramps on the east side now which will make it easier and safer to get through. That remarkable neon-orange colour is made with pyrol orange (PO73) and benzi orange (PO62) mixed just so... it scans a bit more red-orange than I see it on the original painting. I call it "Montreal Orange" because you see so much of it around especially in the summer. Here in Ville st Pierre, they also add magenta flair to the signage, the main sign had a magenta post, and the pylons mostly had magenta bases. The new Mayor called for removal of all orange pylons, I can't wait to see what colours they go with next! 

Sign three pylons Notre Dame, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Colourful trailers, donut drive through

From the canal bike path there are good views of a truck depot parking lot, today there were different colour trailers. In the background is the highway and escarpment wall, which is now covered in graffiti. One lone pylon anchored the composition in the foreground.  

Colourful trailers, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Here is a real Canadian painting, of a Tim Horton's drive through. I put my  initials on the screen, so now you can order some PJD 26 with your maple cream donut and double-double coffee. 

Donut drive through, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

As I painted a cop drove up and went in, no joke. They were out patrolling for speeders or people going through the traffic lights. It was chaotic down here in ville st Pierre, construction was still going heavy on the highways. 

Tim's front cop, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

A few painting near the Lachine Canal

Part of the canal wall was removed and replaced with a wetlands area, consisting of reeds mostly, and a few small trees growing. Birds like to stay here especially the red-winged black birds. Grass was starting to turn green, it was a lime-chartreuse colour made with bismuth yellow (PY184), yellow (PY154), green (PG36) and earth colours. 

Reeds near Canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

This big tree grows in a popular lounge spot near the Lachine canal, it must be near a hundred years old. All of the old iron utility poles were cut down by the city, they left just about 2 meters of each one standing as a memento perhaps. The structures had become unstable. 

Big tree Canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Where the footbridge crosses the canal, there is a roundabout to help bikes merge with the path, and to protect pedestrians. Arrows show you which direction to go. In the background is the canal, with PJD26 written on the wall. 

Roundabout Canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026  

Parc du Souvenir, highway ramps

Parc du Souvenir is a small square with a few benches and plenty of tall trees. Oddly enough, the ground appears to be paved in asphalt, and covered in old leaves. A turquoise tent was set up towards the back to the park, behind, two highway overpasses and hints of Montreal's skyline can be seen. The trees are done with a mix of earth paints, applied over top of the background elements. 

 Parc du Souvenir spring, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

This on-ramp connect Fort street to highway 136 (Boulevard Ville Marie), and goes over the train tracks. Typical 'sweaty' Montreal concrete is adorned with a yellow paint tag by PJD26, done with bismuth vanadate yellow (PY184).  

Fort street on ramp, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

This off-ramp connect the highway to st Marc street downtown. There is actually a wide area called the Ernest Cormier Esplanade which is a mix of grassy lawns, concrete slabs, and architectural-style sculptures. Its a surprisingly good place to stand and paint urban scenes, and there might be a large number of flowering shrubs, good to check out again in May. 

Off ramp spring, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

My Birthday Trip

Today is a special day, on April 19^th 1943 a scientist named Albert Hofmann accidentally took some LSD that he prepared for entirely other reasons, rode his bike home... and had an 'acid trip'. Everything looked a little odd and he had a kind of out-of-body experience due to the drug's effect. Coincidentally, I was born on this day, although quite a bit later than 1943! Truth is, I never tried LSD, which may surprise some people who know my abstract art... In this painting I went with the theme, using an old painting called sky emotes, which has like 250 views by the way, and turned it into a new painting. 

My birthday Trip, watercolour 8 x 10" hot press, 2026

 

Here is part of an older painting, done in 2010 shortly after watching Avatar... I liked the idea of neon things creating a variety of glowing effects. The rest of the painting is purely abstract expressionism, I like to call it doodleism. 

Neon trail right, watercolour 8 x 10" hot press, 2010 

 

Completing the birthday trip, here is a floating flower, I might have been thinking of stem cells or something something. More truth, I used to drink a fair bit of beer and then make watercolour paintings, I don't anymore, mostly sober for 12 years. In fact, my art is even better and slightly more odd while painting sober which is cool to know. But you can tell whatever story you want. Anyways, here's to 50 more birthdays!

Floating Flower, watercolour 9 x 12" paper

 

 

Old Maltage factory panorama

With wind blasting down the Canal today, it was all I could do to hold on to the painting and keep my bike from blowing over. From across the canal, there is a great view of the old Maltage factory, now a Montreal icon. Its completely visible from all angles, and provides a great backdrop for selfies along the canal bike paths. People stop all the time to take pictures of it, and intrepid kids still go in and explore the dangerous unstable structure. Its one of the few places where you can still see a SAKE graffiti art... he used to be the most prolific writer in Montreal, with thousands of graffitis, but he retired about ten years ago and people painted over his stuff. The PJD 26 on the right most silo was actually a SLUK rappel piece, he uses mountain climbing equipment and paint rollers to make these large wall murals. Recently, he did a piece on the Molson Brewery along with KONG but it has been buffed off now. 

Old Maltage factory panorama, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2026 

Yellow flowers, Spring is here!?

I had been lamenting the fact that everything was still grey and brown... today I finally saw some yellow wild flowers growing down in the industrial-residential area near the Lachine canal. The rest of the grassy expanse, which is a community nature reserve, was a mottled mix of toasty yellow, olive, brown, dark yellow and green. I used a variety of colours and brush techniques to create the effect of a Springtime field of grass. 

First flowers, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026  

On the left you see part of the SCAN tribute wall, along Cabot street south of the Canal. I hadn't noticed before but the wall, seen in tuquoise here, is a giant rendition of SCAN, the letters reaching about 4 stories high. Also, the people who did the wall, shortly after SCAN died, are graffiti artists from Montreal and around the world. If you are into graffiti or urban art, this place is worth a visit. Its near the corner of Avenue Gilmore, seen in between the green shed and the SCAN warehouse. The writer on the side wall was FOST, an old timer, but I changed it to my initials. 

Scan wall, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

Here is a painting of the Canal lock overflow falls, it has a pedestrian and bike bridge going across. In the background there were a bunch of highway signs from autoroute 15. There was a massive BTH graffiti on the stone walls, its the name of a crew, but I changed the first letter to P, and put in a JD. In fact, I almost always change the graffiti to be my initials because its fun to do so. Copying a graffiti artist's style is called 'biting'. 

Lock falls Spring, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

I sized-up this old metal post several times for a painting, but never went ahead with it. Today I figured it was time, you never know how long these things last. The post was originally painted with iron oxide colour, and had a number stamped on with yellow painted font. Over the years, it rusted out, paint chipped, and someone spray painted their initials over top with silver paint. It was a very technical painting to do, since you can not paint light on dark, I had to establish the yellow and silver-effect, then paint around the lettering. In the background is a sweaty old warehouse covered in PJD 26! Some kids were walking around the roof of this thing... seemed dangerous but I can understand the appeal of exploring old buildings. 

Zen factory biting, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

What's the blue stuff in the sky?

Today, after I got out of the office finally, I wondered: What's the blue stuff in the sky? Normally the sky is grey and rainy... oh yeah, its a blue sky! And that yellow circle up there... its the sun! Finally a bit of sun, and tomorrow will even be a balmy 21℃ in Montreal. In this scene I am looking up at the old Maltage factory tower adorned with a red and pink house. The sky is done by blending phthalo green (PG7) with phthalo blue sapphire (PB15), the one from Holbein. Using most any other phthalo blue wont work because the formulas tend to be staining and obnoxious. The Holbein one is easier to control in blended washes, its one of the few paints I would recommend by brand, phthalo blue sapphire from Holbein. 

Old Maltage looking up, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Here is the adjacent view, although I omitted all the graffiti this time, just PJD 26 if you look closely enough. I cut up another painting and am using the back of it for some paintings. The brick is a blend of red ochre (PR102), pyrol orange (PO73) and orange (PO62). 

Old Maltage side, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

The boulevard Monk bridge it hard to paint, its a light grey against a dark blue and orange background. In watercolour you have to paint the background in between the foreground elements since there is no way to paint light over dark. 

Monk bridge canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

This secretive building is some sort of data center, it has imposing green tinted windows and a confusing array of lego-brick-like architecture. The olive greens of the pine tree and grass set well against the greens and turquoises, along with a sapphire blue sky. 

Secret building entrance, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Here is the so called 'Twisty Groove', its a small vacant lot that was once mowed, now they just let it grow wild. At the moment, the grass is coming up and it almost looks like a normal lawn, but soon it will overgrow with wild plants, flowers, and attract butterflies. That is, if the city can leave it alone! 

Twisty groove spring, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026  

Night angles

Along the Maisonneuve bike path there are a few car washes and auto mechanics, including this one called Lave Auto. It was closed of course, being late at night, but there was still an eerie greenish glow coming from the interior. In the background there was a residential building with lights on. The sky had an interesting gradation of mauve, which was mixed with indo blue (PB60) pyrol orange (PO73) and some purple magenta (PV55) along the top. 

Lave Auto night angle,  watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Further towards downtown and there are good views of the Farine Five Roses sign at night, illuminated in bright red lights against a dark blue-cyan sky. In the foreground is a long warehouse with lights reflecting on the Lachine Canal, ice melted finally, and a commuter train went by, you can see it in the middle of the scene. 

Farine Five Roses train canal night, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Dépanneur Elephant, colourful signs

In downtown Montreal there is an area called Shaughnessy Village, its roughly between Dawson College and Concordia University (Sir George Williams campus). This old dépanneur, called Elephant Direct is on Chomedey st, near the old Forum. It looks to be shuttered, and an adjacent building looks boarded up too. One can imagine this prime real estate would make for a good condo tower, they built many around here. The architecture was a hodgepodge of ideas, you can see a classic French roof-line with bay windows and a steep sloping shingled facade. In the middle, is a corrugated plastic roof that covers a balcony. It looks like someone still lives in the mid and upper floors. Metal bars were behind the window, and a metal grating was in front, so pretty secure it would seem. 

Dépanneur Elephant Direct, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2026 

 

Looking east along st Catherine, there are many restaurants and shops with interesting exteriors. Over the years, they have been renovated, painted over, built on, painted again... resulting in more hodgepodge architecture. This one had tall 'stucco' panelling, like a slap of rough asphalt, and brown aluminum siding, with a black shingle roof. Red, orange, yellow and chartreuse signs popped off against an otherwise grey, blue and brown drizzly day. The building at center bottom in the distance is the Place Ville Marie tower. 

Red, orange, yellow chartreuse signs, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026  

Please come back another day...

Rain, rain go away, please come back another day... actually, the rain is great for the plants outside, and its clearing out all the dust and dirt from winter. In Cabot square, there was a final pile of dirty snow melting away in the misty drizzle. A bus was parked in the background, with a port-o-let in the middle of the scene, anchoring the composition. I'm looking forward to painting scenes like this on sunny days when I have a bit more time. 

Cabot remaining snow pile, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

The old Canadien's arena, the Forum, is now a large shopping complex with black cladding. There is a Dollar store but I changed the sign to my initials. The trees here are very mossy, a dark olive green with black accents and hints of red-orange leaf buds. 

Trees old Forum, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026  

Rain rain go away!

The rain subsided enough for me to get out at lunch hour and pick up a sandwich and bread at Snowdon bakery. It started up again and I made a quick painting from under the front of the City Fruterie strip mall on Harley street.  

Lights City Fruterie, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

It was a water park in more ways than one, down in Coffee Park. They built a water play area for kids here, I just painted the scene since it was one of the few areas with an overhang and some rain protection. A commuter train went by in the background. 

Water park, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

All the leaves were on the ground, from last year. As old leaves decay they fertilize the grass and roots of the trees for more growth. Soon things will start growing again and I look forward to seeing some flowers. 

Trees no leaves, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026  

Pastel sky, zen factory, mount crud

With rain in the forecast, it stayed remarkable dry for this bike ride, not even a drop. This scene shows part of the old gantry crane, it was used to load and unload cargo from the train cars onto boats. Now its just an iconic structure. I used a dreamy pastel colour sceheme for the rest of the painting, trying to make some of those 'happy trees' that Bob Ross used to talk about. 

Pastel sky gantry crane canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Making a visit to the Zen Factory, which is my nickname for this derlict factory warehouse that is now a graffiti haven. This scene shows the side view near rue st Patrick, although I am standing on Boulevard de la Vérendrye. The city is making plans for this location, probably a community housing development. There is a lot of wildlife here, so too bad it wont be a forest. 

Zen factory horizontal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Some young lads were looking around, trying to get into this place. They kept staring back at me, thinking I was a cop probably, but then went ahead and climbed onto the roof and through a window anyways. Watch out for the tetanus! I wont get near the place, last time I wheeled my bike onto the asphalt around the building I got a flat tire and a rip in my bike pack. All the graffiti was changed to be my intials and year. 

Zen factory vertical, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

I got a close up view of Mount Crud... that is, the giant pile of snow that is created from snow removal during winter. The black colour is probably gravel and tire particles... I wonder how many car keys, money, glasses, and other lost objects are in that pile? It was a towering hill, probably ten or so stories high. Getting the charcoal-shades correct was harder that is seems, I used mixtures of violet (PV55), blue (PB60), yellow ochre (PY43), burnt umber (PBr7), charcoal black (PBk6), red ochre (PR101)... is there any paint I did not use? 

Mount crud, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026  

Decarie expressway Spring yet?

Decarie is a sunken highway, about two stories down and walled with concrete, it goes north to south along the east side of NDG. All around it there are pockets of grass and trees which offers a rare chance to paint nature, like natural nature, not landscaped or manicured. Well they do mow the grass so I suppose that counts as being manicured. This creepy tree, as seen in the foreground, was done with a near black mix of carbon black (PBk6), indo blue (PB60) and burnt umber (PBr7). 

Decarie creepy tree, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 Here is a close-up scene of the bridge over Decarie running along st Jacques, with a few off ramps visible. I am standing up on a cul-de-sac, that is a round dead end of a street. If is a good place to stand and paint with views of the highway and city-vista to the south. 

Bridge over Decarie, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Another scene next to the Decarie, these pine trees have a spot to themselves, and a giant puddle was reflecting. In the background, the trees line the train tracks, although there were few trains going by on the weekend. 

Pine trees and puddles, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Sumac, billboard moonscape

The other day I noticed a nook of grass and sumac trees along Upper Lachine road, with a view of the Decarie and st Jacques bridge in the background. I walked up into the area with my bike and did this painting looking south. To make the sumac colour, its mostly yellow ochre (PY43), mixed perylene maroon (PR179). Once I practiced a few of them, I could make the sumac shape with one press of a small #2 brush. My brushes are getting pretty beat up by now, winter is always hard on the brushes. 

Sumacs Decarie, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Last year, I did some painting in an empty lot along st Jacques street and wondered if there would be a renaturalization effort by the city. Today I saw that the entire lot had been leveled and covered in gravel, packed down. It looks more like a development, although being so close to the escarpment, considering its probably landfill, I wonder if they are even allowed to build condos here. Still hoping for that re-naturalization project. The scene was a moonscape, complete with PJD 26 billboard. 

Billboard moonscape, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026  

More Griffintown construction

Griffontown was once a light industrial, warehouse and storage area that grew up around the peel basin which used to be a major shipping and receiving port. Looking at Google Maps street views from 2012, and you can still see all the old structures, just a few stories high, a labyrinth of streets, parking lots and alley ways. Now its mostly all filled in with glass condo skyscrapers and hipster restaurants and cafes which is cool I suppose. This construction is right beside one of the small offshoots of the Lachine canal. In the middle ground you see an iron wall, its actually keeping the whole Lachine canal at bay as they dig down. Its a wonder they can dig down so much and put in a foundation given the virtual river right next door. 

Construction vehicle Griffintown, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

This is one of the few 'old lots' left over in Griffintown, probably because its some sort of utility building. The building in the middle is an old warehouse converted into shops and condos. I just wanted to paint this kind of thing because it typically wont last long... one day it will just be a memory on Google Map street view, not to mention, my blog!

Old lot Griffintown, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Here is a scene of the Lachine canal offshoot, a berm of earth, then the iron fencing walls around the giant hole they are digging. The water was still largely frozen on top, in fact, it was so cold I had to bail on the painting trip since I had dressed for warmer weather but it was bitterly cold. 

Foundations and canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Bit of sun in Montreal

Maisonneuve still has a few car washes, small car mechanics, and a few light industrial buildings, although three such locations were replaced with condo complexes recently. The city gave grants to the condo developers to build those condos in order to create more affordable housing albeit near the train tracks. In the painting you see a car wash with a car inside, and the red/grey bricks on the outside. The grey is there because the owners have to paint over graffiti. In the alleyway there was a big graffiti by SCRIBE which I replaced with PJD. 

Car wash red grey bricks, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

For lack of a better term I call this the triangle forest, its a small triangle of grass at the end of the old Maisonneuve bike path near Vendome metro. If you had to name a forest after me, this would be it, Peter's forest... I actually take care of the trees here, removing invasive vines and adding fertilizer when needed. Lately there is garbage all around, if the city doesn't move it, maybe I will when I have more time and things dry out a bit.  

Triangle forest, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

From Upper Lachine road there are good views of the Decarie overpass bridge, it is part of rue st Jacques which runs east west along the escarpment. Its a good scene, today was just a quick painting of it without all the details rendered. Looks like more rain on the forecast for awhile! 

Decarie overpass bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026  

Van Horne Rosemont overpass

Where Van Horne avenue meets boulevard Rosemont there is an overpass that goes over st Urbain and st Laurent. It is roughly the boundary of Mile End and beginning of Le Plateau neighborhood. Montreal agreed to demolish the overpass and replace it with a new structure which will no doubt create serious traffic chaos in this part of town for some time. No sign of any work as of yet. This scene shows the east end of the overpass bridge, it descends into rue st Denis and the Rosemont Metro station area. 

Rosemont overpass bus, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Here is a scene of dirty snow piles melting into a parking lot, with concrete dividers and the overpass seen in the upper right. Trees grow along this area, just wild trees that happen to take seed there. In the background there is a billboard and rows of triplex 'Plateau style' housing. 

Dirty snow piles overpass, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

After many years of construction,  in fact, I painted a frontal view of this area when they were building it back in 2019. Behind me is a massive bus depot covered in a sloping roof covered in grass, trees and paths. Its a park on top of a bus depot. This scene is standing up towards the high point of the new park, looking south to the Rosemont overpass. An ambulance went by. I think this scene will be good when the trees have leaves. The bus depot is neat too, but I will need a warm sunny day to paint it properly.  

Overpass view from Park Bellechasse, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026