World Inspired Landscapes: Pakistan

Getting into the countries starting with the letter P, here is Pakistan a country that needs no introduction. In post-colonial times the British Empire withdrew from India leaving behind a divisive catastrophe in many ways that would eventually lead to the formation of Pakistan. The tragedy was in the forces exodus of millions of Muslims from India to the newly formed Pakistan, which resulted in a significant number of casualties along the way. After stabilizing, the country emerged as one the strongest Muslim-majority countries in the world al though it continues to have a frosty relationship with its neighbor. Nestled in among the Himalayas, Pakistan has some of the most challenging alpine climbing in the world, none taller and more dangerous than K2. K2 is the name of the second tallest mountain in the world (next after Everest of course) and has been the stage for many a climbing dramas, both real life and in the movies. You see the tall mountains in the background, with the Indus river flowing through the middle, and some nice cherry blossoms in the foreground. The landscape in Pakistan seemed incredible, too bad its a hard place to visit and be a tourist from abroad. 

World Inspired Landscapes: Pakistan, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3861)

Time and Space are Lost and Found

 

Its been awhile since I did much abstract painting since the weather has been mostly amenable to location painting as of late. This is a repaint of two abstracts from the past that I did, one called Lost and Found, the other called Time and Space. Neither were very interesting on their own but had some good ideas that I pulled out and combined into the new design. A creepy hand clings onto a smart phone showing bubbles cascading downwards. The background has a surrealistic landscape, with pastel ghost-like apparitions in the foreground. Its done on the last of the Strathmore synthetic paper that I got last year, just a few pieces remaining and I will switch to Arches 140lb cold press for the future.

Time and Space are Lost and Found, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3876b)

Pick a direction and paint

 

After finishing the day's task of submitting another manuscript, that's seven now with one accepted, I picked a direction and rode there to make some paintings. This scene is looking from the other side of the tracks at some people waiting to board the commuter train. The funny thing was that everyone was looking at their phone. Eventually two people were chatting and seemed to notice that I was painting the scene. 

Waiting for Boarding, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3821b)

Just down the path a little, still behind the hospital, I saw these cool shadows on the hill and ramp that leads up to the overflow parking. During the pandemic that was set up to be a vaccination site. The first layer of this painting was pale pastel, the second layer was the darker shadow elements, each adjusted for hue and value. It was a Monet-like treatment of the artwork. 

Shadows on Path and Ramp, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3822)

I've painted this scene often, this time I created an almost abstract composition that takes a second to figure out. The hill is a knife's edge ridge with a dirt path and steep banks on both sides. Wild flowers, pink, yellow and white were growing all over. In the background is that turn in highway 720 that goes into the downtown core of Montreal. The noise from the cars was echoing up the embankment, but as usual I had earplugs in.

Wild Flowers and Noisy Cars, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3495a)

This access road takes you from the upper part of NDG to the lower part of st Henri in one long steep downhill. You have to tap the brakes because there is a busy road at the end. Hopefully the painting gives you a plunging feeling of gravity! I lined up the angles with the brush handle and kept the angle on the road very low relative to the horizon line to give the illusion of looking down a hill. A small figure at the bottom gives a sense of scale, and the manhole cover (complete with yellow line painted on top) gives the foreground scale. This is Glen path hill.

Looking down, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3894b)

Darkness on Ontario Street

 

Yes there is a prominent street in Montreal called Ontario street (and in Kingston Ontario they have a  street called Montreal street!). Ontario street cuts a swath from the Cartier bridge through the Latin quarter (Gay Village) and into the student Ghetto McGill area. I have sized up this location a few times before and not painted it until today when I finally saw the potential of the scene. Somebody lit up a charcoal bbq as I was painting, so kerosene wafted by, then a sooty smell, followed by burger meat on the grill. The ground floor of this corner house has a row of shops, with apartments on the top floor, and what looks to be more apartments up in the spooky attic. The painting was harder to do than it it may look, firstly the two-point perspective was strong, and I wanted the building to sort of jump off the page. Next, the whole scene was backlit and in silhouette, yet the colours still had intensity, green and black on the roof elements, and deep brick tones on the facade. The shade of brick changes, because they painted it over on the bottom to cover graffiti. The tree in the back and the shadow in the front complete the effect. It looks a little creepy which was intentional. For a point of reference, see Van Gogh's 'The Church at Auvers'.

Corner House, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3820)

 

Just a block down from the corner house (you see it in the distance on the left) is a defunct bar and punk music venue called Katacombs. Painted entirely in black, it is adorned with a plethora of cool murals and graffiti art. As a business it went bust in 2019, and has sat empty ever since. The plan is to develop it into an affordable housing block for student rentals. I thought it would be worth painting it before it disappears forever, although there did not seem to be any indication that construction was imminent.

Katacombs, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3821)

Party time Peel Basin

The Peel Basin used to be where ships would dock and unload their cargo, which would go into one of the many warehouses. Now all but one of the warehouses has been knocked down to make way for condos. On the wide land-pier segment, they hold festivals in the summer, today there was a Jazz singer on stage, you see it at the end of the pier, then when she finished they turned on the Euro Cup Soccer game being broadcast in French. Most of the painting is the canal water which I painted with a two tones- grey blue and some simple ripples on top. If you get the value correct on the first wash then the water will turn out well. If you have to fiddle with it, the water looses its nice smooth effect. I've painted a lot of water between the Lachine canal and the st Lawrence river its been a lesson in painting water. Ironically, painting water with watercolour is one of the most difficult things to do! 

Party time Peel Basin, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3876a)

Painting up the Wall

Across the Lachine Canal you can see an old factory and grain silo that was turned into condos and a climbing center. The colourful dots are the climbing grips that allow courageous people to scale to the top. The rest of the scene is fairly standard, it turned out looking quite realistic, and you get the feel of a scorching Montreal summer.  

Climbing Walls, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3819a)

 

There are actually parts of three different bridges here, the highest one is the new light rail transit, the middle one in rusty iron is what used to be a swivel-bridge for trains but is now defunct, and the concrete one in the front is a highway. Of course, the bike path is in front. Tucked behind it all is the Farine Five Roses sign that sits on top of Canada Malting company.

Farine Five Roses and Bridges, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3819b)

View down China view down Town Main Street

The Main is what some people used to call st Laurent street, it cuts a swath through many neighborhoods in Montreal including China town. In the painting, you can see the south gate at the end of the street looking southwards, and on the right are some of the tall apartments and shops in shadow, on the left are more shops including a fruit and vegetable shop in the foreground. The street of course is jammed with parked cars and a constant flow of traffic which I felt really belonged in the scene to complete the ambiance. It was a difficult location, I had to wedge my bike between a tree and a parking meter and try to stay on the edge of the sidewalk to get a good enough view. I almost didn't do another painting because of the oppressive heat and humidity, but then I saw a mural that said "1990's China Town: with a heart underneath (you can see a version of it off to the left), which inspired me to try and do justice to the scene. In the end I am glad I stuck with it, the painting really gives a sense of the crowded street, filled with light and popping with highlights. 

China Town view down Main Street, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3875)