Everywhere a sign...

As an artist I may be one of the few who gets excited by a scene like this, believe it or not this was exactly how it looked. In fact there were even more signs in the distance that I left out! The reason for all the signs had something to do with 'no dogs' and 'no parking', but if you wanted to park and walk your dog, you would have to stop, then turn right, but only right, definitely not left. Oh, and no parking between 9 and 11 on Wednesdays between April and October on even numbered years. Don't forget or you will get a ticket.

Everywhere a sign, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2024 (No. 4001a)

 

Speaking of signs, I may as well throw this one into the blog. Its the on ramp at the end of Fort street, the main way to get out of downtown by car, but not bike. There was a sign that said no bikes, or walking. But maybe dogs were allowed, there was no sign for that. 

On Ramp, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August  2024 (No. 4000b)

Scenes in Cabot Square, white gravel

Cabot Square is down by Atwater station, it tends to be a meeting area for a lot of local people and is the focal point of some of the protests that happen downtown. It was pretty tame today, although I have to admit that the aroma of marijuana was very potent and close by as I painted here, it did seem to make made for a more most relaxing painting trip...

Tree in Circle, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2024 (No. 3999a)

 

The white gravel is adorned with sculpted concrete benches. On the left is a very old structure probably used to sell papers or snacks, and in the background is the new Atwater metro access point. Its hard to paint these scenes when everything is grey and there is no skyline. The tones are subtle and the textures are important. I used a lot of black paint to create contrast where needed (PBk6). It was just that curve that caught my eye, the whole composition runs off of it.

Curving bench, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August  2024 (No. 4000a)

 

These permanent balloons have been there for many years now, they are starting to show wear. On the right is a very tall statue with a person, I assume to be Cabot, standing on top (unseen in painting). I just wanted to paint the curve of the statue's base, and get its perspective. The bark of the tree was done with one quick brushstroke, a side swipe with semi-moist brown. I make the dark brown by mixing burnt umber (PBr7) with a touch of indo blue (PB60). I probably lingered around this location a bit longer than usual, you could say that it was a high point of the trip.

Balloons and Statue, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2024 (No. 3999b)

Sunflowers in the City

 

Along Blvd Robert-Bourassa the city of Montreal invested heavily into parks, paths and manicured gardens including these sunflowers. It was a tricky painting to do while standing next to a noisy road and a busy sidewalk, but I really liked how it turned out. Part of the idea was to have the big sunflower kind of melting into he sky, which was starting to turn yellowish-orange with the low sun. For the traffic light, I stippled the yellow on to try and emulate a bright light, its the first time trying that and it worked out pretty good. Its a memorable painting indeed.

Sunflowers in the City, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2024 (No. 4040a)

 

At the same location, there was a great view of all the new mega condos that have been built up around the Molson Areana where the Habs play. The buildings are steel and tinted glass with a variety of patterns and colours that are depicted in an abstract fashion. The highway cuts across the front of the scene, and I tried the stippling technique on the red light. I would imagine this scene surprises some people who know Montreal from the old days, most of these buildings are only the last 5 years or so. The sky line is a veritable wall of glass windows now.

Skyline and highway, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2024 (No. 4040b)

 

 

Two buildings with character, what's up with August?

What's up with August? By my count there are over 90 paintings this month alone, owing mostly to the two vacations we took to the lake and to PEI, but there were plenty of paintings in between. When I set out my 'art agenda' this year I thought of doing less numbers of paintings with bigger sizes, but in fact I made more paintings than before including bigger sizes. Well, it just means a carton will be filled up a bit faster! This scene is another majestic building, the Greenshields building that was built on behalf of a wealthy 19th century Scottish-born industrialist of the same name. It is set up on a steep embankment and has an imposing three stories with arched windows, and a semi-circular protruding segment. Two other segments including an identical wing are all connected. It must have been an office building, but now it appears to be for low income housing if I were to guess. I am glad the painting carries all the feeling of the proportions and imposing architecture, its easy to get this kind of painting wrong. I've gotten better at scaling things by paying attention to how the roof line plays against the horizon line, and recording the perspective. 

Greenshields Building, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August  2024 (No. 3995b)

 

Somewhere in the plateau, near the Sherbrooke metro station, there is an old auto shop completely painted beige. Usually the colours is what attracts my attention, but this time it was the complete absence of colours, nearly everything was beige. The building was the same colour as the ground and the piles of earth. It looks a lot like this is a demolition and condo development waiting to happen, I kind of doubt the plan is to open the auto shop again. A few locals talked to me, and I pointed out that these paintings are meant to capture the neighborhood, especially in areas that are fast gentrifying. They seemed to appreciate that fact.

Beige autoshop, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August  2024 (No. 3996a)

Magestic new condos in Old Montreal

Painting these condos is difficult because they had over 17 floors, but I could only depict about half of that despite my best efforts. At least you get the kind of queasy feeling of looking up at these giant monoliths, it is a scene with a majestic air,  perhaps a touch of brutalist architecture. In the foreground there is a light rail train that passed by every 15 minutes or so. To paint this scene I established the tops of the buildings, trying to fit in all five but only getting in about three and and a half of them. Next, I made 17 lines and five columns per building, but in retrospect I needed 34  lines and 10 columns to get in the correct number of windows. My math was 17 x 5 = 85 windows per building, plus balconies and the side windows.  At some point during painting I just gave up on the architectural aspects and math and just filled in the kinds of colours and lines that represented the general feel of these massive condos. Stop thinking and paint. I am down on a bike path looking up a steep embankment, which adds an ominous feeling to the composition. 

Majestic condos and rail train, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, August  2024 (No. 3905)

Views around the Peel basin

The Peel basin used to be a shipping and receiving area for boats and trains, but now it is for festivals and condo developments. This view is looking west, in the distance you see the Atwater market clock tower, and on the right is the bike path. Hundreds of bikes and pedestrians zoomed and walked by as I did these paintings. 

Lachine canal near Peel basin, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August  2024 (No. 3994a)

 

The train bridge goes over the bike path at this point. I am wedged between the bike path and the wall looking up at the underside of the bridge. I liked the tiny sliver of sky up in the top left, and wondered if I could compose a painting that relied almost entirely on less than 1/4 of the space. Without the sliver of sky, the whole painting becomes a jumble of grey and black. There was also a small shrub growing on top of the structure, and you can see one of the new condos in the distance. A giant graffiti was converted into my initials. I am the opposite of a graffiti artist, they put the paint onto the landscape, I put the landscape onto the painting!

Graffiti under train bridge, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2024 (No. 3994b)

 

This scene is off to the left of the Farine Five Roses, and in the foreground is the same festival area that had the shark and the titanic inflatables at the music show last night. A huge new condo is nearly complete, it has completely changed the skyline of old Montreal.

Changing skyline, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August  2024 (No. 3995a)

Condo Skyscrapers Peel Basin music festival

 

Just around sunset I made this painting down at the Peel Basin where they were holding a house music festival. Painting to the beats, this scene shows some of the tall skyscraper condos with a colouurful sunset with heavy clouds in the background. The colours were embellished a bit, after the amazing sunsets in PEI. Tall condos are hard to capture since there are like 20 floors with 5 columns of windows for a total of 100 windows each! To simplify, I painted the window colour first, let it dry, then made a series of hatch marks to depict the windows.

Skyscraper condos and sunset, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, August  2024 (No. 3901b)

 

The festival had large inflatable decorations including this great white shark in a wave. In the background is the iconic Farine Five Roses sign on top of the Canada Malt factory. It was a tricky painting with lots of details, I wasn't sure the image would make any sense, and perhaps without adequate explanation it is quite a bizarre scene. A great white shark leaping out of the Peel basin!

Great white shark, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2024 (No. 3993a)

 

On the other side of the stage was a giant inflatable Titanic looking like it was sinking into the crowd. A lot of people were gathered around the multi-coloured stage and having a good time grooving to the tunes. To paint a crowd of people like this, first apply the outlines of people, kind of like lollipops with shoulders, then paint in broad brushstrokes of colours, followed by a few clothing and hair details. The main goal is to capture the energy of the crowd.

Titanic and house music, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2024 (No. 3993b)