Downtown Montreal panoramas

There was a nice bench with shade, and this was the view! It didn't seem like much of a scene but once I got into it, the composition started to come together. The low sun was casting long shadows and creating streaks of light across the road. The buildings were stacked and overlapped in an interesting manner. On the left is a large hotel, on the right is the old train station.

View down Peel south, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3919a)

Painting a large facade like this in not easy especially when you consider how small this paper format really is, about the size of a postcard. I moved up to the end of the building and got an angle looking to the east. There were a few benches around here and I could sit and paint. The painting starts with a dilute outline then its a matter of filling in the colour blocks and applying textures without fussing about too much. I will be blogging about the Bolton trip to visit my parents, there were a lot of paintings done and it was a great time overall.

Centre Bell study, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3919b)

City scenes along the way

On an early morning in downtown Toronto I saw this pigeon on top of the signage outside of Union station. In the background you can see some of the gaudy glass buildings on Front street towards bay street. The orange glass is a dilute mix of pyrol orange (PO73) with yellow ochre (PY43) and orange (PO62). 

Morning pigeon Toronto, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 2729b)

 

Fast forward to Montreal, here is one of the new, nearly finished condo towers nearby Gare Central. To the left is a large, posh hotel with some nice looking landscaping. The orange side of the building is pale yellow ochre with orange paint. The shadow side is similar but with indo blue (PB60) and magenta (PV55). Quite a few tourists were trying to get a look over my shoulder, usually I tilt the paper so they can see it, sometimes they take pictures of make short videos.

Two tone condo, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3917a)

 

A little further west and you come to the old train station which is now connected to the Bonaventure metro station, and is also used for events like beer festival in the old days before it moved to the convention center. There was a nice blue pine in the foreground. The blue pine was pale turquoise (PB60 + PG7 + PY43). 

Old station new condos, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3918a)

 

World Inspired Landscapes: Palau

Palau is a small nation of islands in Micronesia, south Pacific ocean. Like many nations in the region, it was populated by seafaring indigenous people from Indonesia or thereabouts, many thousands of years ago. Due to its remoteness, the main colonial interests were related to military naval and air presence, as well as its use as a trading port. Some commodities like sugar cane could be grown, and there were plenty of fish in the sea. Palau become the hub for several colonial forces including Spanish, German, Japanese, United States and finally independence in the late 20th century. Most of their population are still indigenous Palauan who speak the language Palauan, with the second language English. Another common problem facing ocean nations is the steadily rising seawater which will submerge part or all of the lowest lying islands in a matter of decades. These nations are aware of the problem and actively planning for a solution, which may in some cases have to involve relocation to a mainland. 

The painting was not intended to reflect the problem of rising seawater although it could be interpreted as such. I was trying to capture the flow of water using ribbons of colours, finished with a quick layer of clean water to give it a smooth effect. Wet-in-wet technique was used to make the background seem to be shrouded in mist. 

World Inspired Landscapes: Palau, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3864b)

World Inspired Landscapes: Panama

 

Panama is best known for its canal and its hats apparently, but it has a lot more to offer. With a long history of civilizations its a country rich in heritage and different cultures. Like many of the Central and South American countries it went through various eras of ancient indigenous people, Mayans, Incans, Spanish colonial rule and various incursions by the British and French Empires and then United States of America. The canal began with the French empire, who wanted to streamline trade from its colonies in North and Central America with Europe. They made progress but lacked the technology to make the complicated system of locks work effectively. The Americans brought in new crews, manipulated the politics of the region to their favour, and eventually finished the canal which now directly connected the two Oceans. The canal was expanded several times and a new lock system was added to increase capacity, however its climate change that is proving to be the latest challenge. To make the locks work, vast amounts of fresh water from a lake are required, after which the fresh water is emitted into the sea. As the rain fall diminishes, so does the fresh water content of the lake. Eventually the canal will cease to function unless some new engineering feat is accomplished, or the rain falls again. 

The painting has nothing to do with the canal, instead it shows a death-defying footbridge passing over a deep ravine. Obviously the painting is an exaggeration, but there were in fact tree top bridges for tourism in Panama.

World Inspired Landscapes: Panama, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3895b)

Interesting shapes and colours, catalogue update

These interesting shapes and colours are part of the view that I see every time I walk or ride home from work. Just off to the left, unseen, is the chartreuse dumpster. The purplish rectangle plays off well against the grey circle and yellow shredder below, while the orange-yellow bricks complement the sky-blue recycling bins. The dark green tree and black highlights set off all the colours making them seem brighter and more intense. To maximize value contrasts, you want one part of the composition to show white, and one part to show black. That gives the visual system the boundaries it needs to adjust to the other values. On an overcast day there would be less of a difference, so the black would be a charcoal grey, and the white would be a smoky grey.

I completed a mid-year catalogue update yesterday, and so far there are an astounding 323 paintings in 2024.

Interesting shapes and colours, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3947b)

Ville st Pierre Canal Bridge

 

Here are a few paintings from June that escaped the blog, sometimes I feel like the painting is not up to snuff or doesn't fit the theme of the blog at the time. The bridge in question is a busy commuter bridge than connect Ville st Pierre, which is part of Lachine, with st Patrick street. At one point in history this bridge would lift up and down to let boats though but it is long since frozen in its down state. They recently gave it a fresh coating of the green paint which is likely viridian or maybe titanium white with phthalo green. The structure itself is very complex and I have only attempted to paint it on a few occasions. 

Canal Bridge Counter Weight, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3781a)

 

When the bus went by quickly, it was a sensational effect, it looked like the bus was suspended over the water like a magic trick. The composition could have done a better job of conveying the space, perhaps a vertical (portrait) format would have worked. Luckily its a really easy location to go back to and there are no shortages of busses crossing the bridge.

Bus on Bridge, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3781b)

Tree Blossoms with Ground Hog

As I go through the paintings from the first half of the year to update the catalogue, I found this one showing tree blossoms with a ground hog scurrying past. There was another painting of tree blossoms down in the park Jean Drapeau done on the same location, I am not sure why I didn't scan and blog about this one earlier, I actually like it better than the other one. It seems here, the tree was done entirely wet in wet with magenta (PR122) and a bit of violet (PV55) dabbed in. The branches and trunk appear to glow green, signifying the light mossy coating. The ground hog just stood there staring at me for a moment before taking off. To make the flowers really appear to glow, the rest of the scene has to be drab, which it was back in April.

Tree Blossoms with Ground Hog, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2024 (No. 3735b)