Brain Worms

Recently a woman went to a doctor with neurological symptoms and the doctors decided to operate on her brain. Inside they found a 10 cm (3 in) long parasitic worm wriggling around, which they removed with forceps and patched her up. Hence the name of this painting, yuck. I started with the purple squiggles using the amazing carbazol violet (PV23), then arranged more squiggles, which are more like birthday streamers surrounded by balloons if you prefer that more pleasant analogy. Cilei really liked the purple. I tried putting carbazol violet on my landscape palette but it was very odd, and seemed to be warmer than I thought, as in, it made a maroon colour when mixed with brown, and neutral grey when mixed with green. It is still great for abstract paintings though.

Brain Worms, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, September 2023 (No. 3645a)

Three ducks in a lock

What did you expect to see when you read the blog title? If you guessed three ducks in a lock then you were right. This is one of several boat locks along the canal that periodically rises and falls to let boaters across. Today there were three ducks swimming in the lock, maybe they were waiting for a ride or something I don't know. By the time I got into this painting the lock quickly lowered and the scene was reduced to a black cavern and I had to complete the water and ducks from memory. I made an artistic choice to omit the fence from the front of the lock, instead I just placed the fence base and some shadow to give a sense of a fence. I didn't want to overlap onto the ducks which were the focal point of the picture. To do this painting I made a fairly detailed outline with grey paint first, then filled in the details part by part. To get that neutral red colour of the bricks, I mixed pyrol red (PR254) with black (PBk6) and diluted with water. The rich yellow concrete was a mix of earth colours (PBr7, PY43) and a touch of orange (PO36). You can boost the chroma of earth colours by adding synthetic yellow or orange to simulate sun beaming down on the concrete or brick. 

Three ducks in a lock, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, September 2023 (No. 3631)

Some Unusual scenes, Lachine Canal

Continuing along the path eastward, I stopped under the bridge to cool off a bit. This scene reminded me of a painting I did under a bridge near Old Montreal last year. The water creates a lively, shimmering reflection on the bottom of the bridge, which I captured in the painting by using a combination of wet-in-wet and moist brush work over top. Getting the curve right was key, I studied it for some time before committing to the line. When painting grey, I try to identify which tone of grey- on this case it was a aqua tinted grey which I made with blue-green (PG7), blue (PB15) and black (PBk6) diluted with enough water.

Reflections under bridge, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2023 (No. 3540b)

How many times have I painted the pink house? This time I was on the canal path, looking up while I painted. I probably spent more time on the underlying structure, which had a very rich brick orange-brown tone, contrasted with metal tones and streaks of orange. For the first time I saw that there are artificial flower pots hanging under the windows, it was not a detail I could see at a distance. I suppose one day the whole structure will be knocked down and replaced with condos, but at least I got to paint it while it was still there. In the old days it was some kind of malting silo.

Pink House looking up, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2023 (No. 3541b)

Summery painting along Lachine canal

It was a hot and hazy Sunday in Montreal, still summery in September. After lathering on the sunscreen I rode down to Ville st Pierre and got on the canal path riding east. These trees provided some shade to paint under, and made for good subject matter too. The contrast between the water of the canal and the shaded grass was important, so I emphasized the warm peach colour of the canal wall, and applied a jet black fence over top.

Trees and Shade beside Canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2023 (No. 3539)

 

Not too far from the last scene, this is a modern metal bridge in an arched shape that crosses over the canal. Painting white structures is always tough in watercolour, you have to leave the area blank and paint around it. I really like how the water surface turned out. Some of the waves show the brownish bottom of the canal show through, which I depicted with green umber (PBr7).

Arching Bridge over Canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2023 (No. 3540a)

 

Quite a few rowers were out on the canal, I believe that these were dragon boats with seemingly a dozen rowers. I tried to get in the details to tell the whole story. In the background an old factory turned condo, in the foreground all the people and the ramp leading to the boats in the canal. I couldn't resist including the two port-o-lets in the middle.

Rowers on Canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2023 (No. 3541a)

A few more paintings on the st Armand paper

 One of the sized I got from st Armand was a 4 x 14" panorama format that did not even fit on my scanner which is maximum 12". It was the perfect scene for a panorama, standing on the rue de l'Église overpass looking east along the aqueduct towards Verdun, with downtown Montreal in the background. The paper is so rough that the scanner caught shadows on it creating a grainy effect, and about 2 inches were cut off. I will try and take a photo outside to get a better image of this painting. I quite liked the panorama, it was an interesting compositional challenge and I could fit in a lot more lateral elements than usual. 

Aqueduct Panorama, watercolour 4 x 14", rough press st Armand, September 2023

This was the first painting I made on the new paper, just around the corner from the shop. The sign actually says de l'Esplanade on the top, and st Patrick on the bottom but the rough finish made the detailing difficult. I also noticed that the paper really grabs the paint off the brush, which made the textural effects pop out. It is a lively paper with impressive texture. I think it would be best for painting scenes with a lot of sky, open spaces and sparkly water, like the Lachine canal on a sunny day. If I get out tomorrow I will give that a try. It was great to make paintings on locally made paper, bought directly from the hands that made it!

Red bush near Highway, watercolour 4 3/4 x 6.5", rough press st Armand, September 2023 (No. 3537)

Painting on the Real Thing, Verdun Apple Tree

 

Today I rode down to the canal to the st Armand paper company which is situated in a sprawling basement floor of a commercial building. The owners, who are also the paper makers, are going to move the business in December and scale it down. I walked down the steps into the cavernous basement, it had wide benches heaped with paper and raw materials, in the back I could see the giant presses and vats they use for the paper making process. The paper is made from any sort of fibers, such as old white shirts or recycled paper, which are skillfully crafted into new sheets. I went on a little shopping spree and got a variety of odd sized watercolour papers in bunches and paid at a little office desk tucked away into a corner. Most of their business is whole sale, they supply art stores like Avenue des Arts where I once bought some of their product. Today it was pretty cool to get this paper directly from the hands that made it, then go out and make few paintings in the area. This painting was done in Verdun just outside of Cilene and Fritz's place, it is a type of apple tree that produces very small, sweet crab apples that fall off in great numbers around this time of year. The paper had a rough finish, it held the paint well, and made perfect wet-in-wet effects. It was quite flexible which made it difficult to use on this windy day, next time I will fix it with an elastic, and line out an 8 x 10" area to keep it easily to frame. The st Armand paper was fantastic and I look forward to mastering its properties.

Crab apple tree Verdun, watercolour 8.5 x 11 3/4", rough press st Armand, September 2023 (No. 3654)

Flowers near Sidewalk

I rode my bike past this hospital, st Mary's, hundreds of times because its on the north bike path that connects to Mile End and Plateau. Yet, I have never had the occasion to make a painting in the area until yesterday. In the background is the hospital, a towering brick edifice with gothic elements, in the foreground is a nicely landscaped circular flower garden with a small blue pine tree at its center. The flowers were red-orange around the edge, and magenta in the middle. The sidewalk and my initials were all done in monochrome black and white with a slight yellow tint where the sun was shining on the concrete. For interest I varied the effects on the font lawn giving it a textural, almost abstract appearance. 

Flowers near Sidewalk, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2023 (No. 3536b)