Remains of the Lake, identified?

Perusing an old map from pre-canal times in the late 18th century revealed a large lake in approximate location of highway 720 and the Lachine canal, stretching as far south into what would become Lasalle, and off to the east where downtown Montreal begins. It was very hard to find any additional information on this Lake, other than it was called by several names including Little Pierre lake. This painting was the last one I did on my trip down to the canal today after work. Normally I would not have attempted such a scene, but its more about trying to tell the story than making an amazing painting. The suggestions of brownish water at the bottom is actually a drainage ditch feeding into a pipe that goes under a gravel utility road. Water collects here because it would seem to be the lowest point in the area and therefor might represent the bottom of the old lake. I have no way to verify this story, but I suspect that the NDG escarpment is the old north shore of the lake, while the steep road up Senkus street to park Angrignon could have been the south shore. That would suggest a large swampy area to the west and east. Anyways, I will try to make a better painting of the 'drainage ditch' for posterity, and see if there is any additional information on the history of this land available on the internet or library. 

Remains of the Lake? watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3942a)

Sundown on the Lachine Canal part 2

The structure here is an off ramp near the Lachine canal, with the curving bike path that comes from the highway 720 overpass and connects with the canal path. The curved, paneled wall is a highway off ramp that connects to the bridge and billboard area I posted int he last blog. The sun was almost setting by now, and the asphalt bike path was infused with a glowing orange-yellow. Getting the colours right was tough here, its a very grey scene, but the colours had to be infused with warm light. To do this I either mixed yellow ochre (PY43) and orange (PO62) on the palette, or applied it directly to the painting when wet. The main interest in this scene were the amazing curving lines emanating from left to top right and bottom right.

Highway off ramp near canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3941)

 

This was done soon after arrival, it shows the underside of the footbridge, with water refelctions in the shadows. It is a very technical painting, capturing all the water ripples and the shimmering reflections in the shadows can be quite challenging. Ironically, painting water in watercolour can be harder then with oils or acrylics where you can paint light over dark. 

Water reflections under bridge, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3940b)

 

Here is just a fun painting, showing the dramatic curve of the Lachine canal with a colourful sunset reflecting off the rippling water. Some birds, probably seagulls complete the atmosphere. 

Sundown on Lachine Canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3938b)

Sundown on the Lachine Canal part 1

Right around 2019 the city completed the last connection for the Lachine canal bike path near ville st Pierre. I did a painting during the fall around that time, and noticed that there would be almost unlimited scenes and locations to paint up and down the canal. It turned out to be true and I have racked up probably a hundred paintings since then in and around the area that used to be a heavy industrial conduit. Not only are the sight lines great, its also quiet, and it tells a story of the history of Montreal.

Bridge and billboard over canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3938a)

It was after a long day of work I rode down across the new highway overpass at st Jacques street that has a bike path going over the train tracks and autoroute 720. Emerging onto the path you get this view, looking west where the canal curves, and the shadows were long with a low sun. Coloured clouds were reflecting in the water. Thankfully the fence is black iron, which makes it a lot easier to paint than if it were white or some light colour.

Sundown on canal with Tree Shadows, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3939)

 

The pale green arching footbridge with a bike path takes you over the canal to Senkus street which you see in the middle of the painting, it is a fairly steep ride straight up to what is probably Lasalle, eventually leading to Park Angrignon. This is how I would ride to the park. But today the weather although hot was quite pleasant down at water level and I reeled off a string of paintings mostly from the exact same spot.

Footbridge over canal panorama, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3940a)

Sunset with firetruck

As the sun descended below the shopping mall, a firetruck came around and parked right in the middle of the scene, as if posing. It was in silhouette but still illuminated from the blood red sunset. To paint sunset with firetruck I had to work fast because neither would be around for very long, and a photo would never work in these circumstances. Not that I ever work from photo, just to say that a watercolour kit on location was the only way to capture this scene for posterity. When painting a blood red sunset there are two choices. One is to do it like Monet in his famous Impressions of a Sunrise where the whole sky is a middle grey value, and the sun painted with his best red-orange in a lighter value. The other option is to amp up the chroma with pigments like pyrol orange (PO73) and orange (PO62) and show the sun darker than its surroundings. Here, I include a kind of corona around the sun which was not actually there, but it gives the illusion of staring at something that you shouldn't be staring at. In the original painting the sunset is a shimmering red-orange while the computer scan turns it into more of a tomato red but you get the idea. To paint the firetruck I established a loose outline to get the perspective right, and left as much white highlight area to work with as possible. From there I worked up the colours with perylene maroon (PR179), yellowish greys (PY43 + PBk6), and the greenish windshield (PG7). Completing the effect is the earth-toned asphalt, and a dark shadow under the truck. It was kind of exciting, as I walked home holding the painting as it dried, taking a look at it, there is a lot of drama here. Not bad for a dull looking parking lot somewhere in Montreal. 

Sunset with firetruck, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3936)

Lead up to sunset in the parking lot

 After going for a walk yesterday we saw a wonderful sunset up at Cavendish mall. Today, with similar weather conditions I headed up on foot with my paint kit and made some paintings in the lead up to the sunset. I was there about 1 hour before sunset. In the first painting, I show the peonies in the parking lot with McDonald's in the background. The foreground flowers were in shadow, the middle ground flowers were still sunlit. The foreground flowers are mostly quin purple (PV55), the middle ground are quin magenta (PR122). 

Peonies in the parking lot with McD, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3934a)

 

Looking across the parking lot, there were long shadows from the shopping mall creeping across the asphalt. To get the yellowish colours I mixed yellow ochre (PY43) with orange (PO62) on the left, and blue (PB60) on the right. The sunset was pyrol orange (PO73) dilute on the horizon, with neutral grey-green and then blue (PB15) at the top. The three light poles are essential for creating depth and rounding out the composition.

Sunset across parking lot, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3937a)

 

Situated on a right angle to the sunset, the McDonald's windows were reflecting the setting sun. In reality it was rather greyish and dark, so I embellished the colours based on what the sun set would be in ten minutes. The peonies are just visible at the bottom left. As I painted this location, I thought, you can make art anywhere really, including an otherwise bland looking parking lot and shopping area. I will make a separate blog for the actual sunset painting.

McD's sunset, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3935b)

Colours of the water in watercolour

 The Mercier bridge splits off into three or so branches on the south canal embankment, you see here two converging train bridges with the car bridge emerging in between. The water was a shimmering blue, with brown tints closer to shore. To do the sky, it was a light blue (PB15) with a smoggy orangish horizon (PO73). PO73 is pyrol orange, it has coral red tones when applied in think washes, which is the perfect colour for the reddish horizon glow.

Mercier Train and car bridges, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3933a)

 

A little farther downstream and I got this view looking back towards the bridge. The turquoise water was churning and bubbling close to the rocky shore. I painted the water and sky first, then over-painted the trees, foreground grass, and inserted the bridge between all the foliage. The water looked amazing to begin with, so it was daunting to paint over it with the trees, but I am glad I tried since it gives a good impression of peering through trees.

Turquoise waves through seen the trees, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3933b)

 

The expo 67 dome is still up, it houses some kind of tourist attraction inside. Outside, they completed a very intensive renovation of all the brick work and installations. This huge reflecting pool is surrounded by a precise concrete rectangle. Painting the expo dome in watercolour is impossible because the pipes are a very light grey, and the triangle formations are incredibly complex. Here I just depicted it as a light grey to give the idea, and see the reflection in the pool.

Expo dome and reflection, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3931b)

Racing to end of July

During the summer Montreal hosts an international car race, in the meantime the race track is open to cars and cyclists (although separated by lanes). I have painted this scene before, this time I composed on the vertical and added myself at the bottom left wearing my new camo boonie hat. One person was on a reclining bike you can see in the middle of the pack. 

Cyclists on track with painter, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3931a)

 

Here is one of the views across the river, I am standing on the south canal embankment where there is a long bike path, looking north east. There are plenty of great views here, and the skyline is constantly changing, soon Mount Royal may not even be visible!

Montreal Vista, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3932a)

 

In front of the Champlain bridge there is an ice flow control bridge that protects the main bridge from ice damage in the winter. They installed a nice bike path, still with fresh asphalt. Its a straight line across the river, connecting Nun's Island to the south canal embankment path.

Ice control bridge path, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3932b)