OLD BUILDINGS – Intersection of St-Laurent boulevard and Sherbrooke Street

 

I sat on a patch of grass in the shade of a tree on the North-West corner of the Main and Sherbrooke Street in Montreal in order to paint this scene. Surprisingly, I was able to find greenery on this very busy intersection. Notice how twisted and denuded the two trees appear in the far corner of my watercolor. They seem to have had a tough life due to the pollution and the thousands of people who brush by them every day while climbing the hill north.

In general this watercolor is a study of various textures. Because I painted it on a sunny day it was easier to suggest texture. When light skips over bricks or uneven surfaces one can more easily perceive texture. Moreover, the oblique rays of light bouncing off the sides of the buildings and doorways It isn’t only the trees that have had a rough life at this intersection. Observe the weathered facades of the buildings from another era. Their bricks and paint have been aged by time and the severe winters of our city. In order to render this effect I have left the white of the paper peer through the dry brush application of the paint. Moreover, I have aged the brickwork by suggesting only a few brick shapes here and there. You can see an example of this especially in the section of the wall behind the lamp post at left. It again suggests the look or rough stone and wood.

Unity in this piece is achieved mostly through color. Uneven and varied forms are unified through the simplified use of only four basic colors: green, red/brown, purple and blue. These recur throughout in varied intensity and quantity.  The white of the paper was intentionally left unpainted to suggest light.

 

Finally, I painted two dishevelled trees against a faded white background. Here a few sketchy vertical lines suggest the contours of buildings. This technique prevents the eye from escaping out of the painting. Also, the small blue corner of sky at top fight is very important. The intense color defines the top contour of a building without attracting too much attention to it. A blue sky tells us it is a sunny day. At the left border I painted a deep dark black lamp post. This vertical line frames the left edge and prevents us from following the lead of the cars and moving out of the picture.

 

 

I include vehicles and people in my urban scenes. These reflect the vibrant life of the city. They also serve to define the relative scale of things. We can thus more easily understand for example the size of a car relative to that of a passerby.

I hope that these explanations will help you to better appreciate paintings of urban scenes.

Raynald Murphy SCA

 

Church of the Madonna de la Difesa

When I walked around Little Italy late yesterday afternoon looking for a spot to sit down and paint I quickly realized that I must sit somewhere out of the wind as the temperature was dropping fast. By the time I completed this 8 1/2 x 11 in watercolor my fingers were freezing, It's a wonder the paint didn't freeze on the paper. The beautiful fall colors and late afternoon light on this historical building seen looking south from near the corner of Henri-Julien and Mozart begged me to paint it. The red car parked in the right spot seemed to add just the correct fall color accent.

Speaking of accent, if you wish to see a published sketch that I drew on site at the Jean-Talon Market last summer, visit http://www.accenti.ca/ ACCENTI -The Magazine with an Italian Accent - and you might be tempted to subscribe to this wonderful magazine which is published every season.

Selon Wikipédia, l'église de Notre-Dame-de-la-Défense représentée dans cette aquarelle a été construite par des immigrants italiens de Montréal, surtout ceux originaires du Molise, pour rappeler l'apparition de la Madone à La Difesa, un secteur de Campobasso en Molise. La décoration intérieure de l'église a été composée par le célèbre artiste peintre et maître-verrier italo-Québécois Guido Nincheri dans le style de la Renaissance. Elle est située à 6800 Henri-Julien au coin de la rue Dante dans la petite Italie.

Raynald Murphy SCA

The Yellow Umbrella at Jean-Talon Market

 

The Jean-Talon market offers many opportunities to paint vibrant colorful scenes such as this one which is the both of Ultrafruits on the north flank of the market. Although the yellow umbrella was the focal and starting point, adding the figures was the challenge since no one stops to pose. A market void of people is a non image.

 

The key to drawing the figures was to locate the approximate level of the heads and place these first. Then, depending on the distance of the figure to my position I drew them either tall, medium or smaller. Adjusting the proportional size of the head to the body comes with years of drawing the figure. Usually a figure is about six or seven heads tall for an adult. Shoulder width is about a head width. It is best to draw the arm length longer than shorter as an arm resting by the body falls below the crouch which is about the half-way point. Another consideration is placing light shirt figures in front of dark areas and vice-versa. I sometimes add stripes to clothing to define volume. It's color is dependant on color found elsewhere. This adds unity.

 

Finally, remember that I drew the image with a permanent ink marker first, outlining the main forms, meaning there is no chance of erasing. Then, I proceeded to add watercolor deciding as I go to leave certain areas the white of the paper unpainted. Again, there is very little room for correction if any. I thoroughly enjoy this challenge much like an athelete gets a rush performing an acrobatic move. It took me approximately a bit more than an hour to complete this one. Size: 8 1/2 x 11 in. on Strathmore Aquarius II paper.

Gabled houses on The Main near Mount-Royal Avenue

I was reflecting about what painted elements reoccur in my street scenes. Have you guessed by looking at this watercolor sketch? It’s the white trucks or cars. When I am at a lost as to what to use as a visual element to link forms together I often paint a white truck. I’d even say that at times, like in this piece, it becomes the focal point. There is only so much planning one can do when working outdoors from life especially from a street scene. Many of the moving elements in the scene such as people and vehicles are added as they present themselves before me.

 Historical note:

Wikipedia says: “In 2002, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada named Saint Lawrence Boulevard as The Main National Historic Site of Canada.^[2] Then Minister of Heritage, Sheila Copps, speaking at the ceremony, said: "our country does not belong to just two founding peoples. It belongs to all Canadians. [This is] a first step toward a new story of Canada that includes all of our partners as equals." ^[3]

I have personally noticed while sketching scenes on the Main that passersby who comment on my work are from a vast variety of cultures and usually volunteer pleasant comments about my work. Language or culture is never an issue, we are all equal.

Raynald Murphy

Blue Striped Awning at Jean-Talon Market – l’auvent bleu

Ombre et lumière - une esquisse

Je circulais au marché lorsque j'ai aperçu un auvent blanc qui contrastait avec un auvent noir tout près. Je voulais peindre la scène avant que le soleil se cache derrière les nuages. Je n’avais pas le temps de sortir mes pinceaux et le petit godet d’eau, alors j’ai décidé de peindre avec mon pinceau réservoir. On ne devrait pas peindre à l’aquarelle en plein soleil par une journée chaude mais je n’avais pas le choix car j'aimais ce point de vue. Donc, pour éviter que tout sèche trop vite à la chaleur du soleil, j’ai dû garder ma feuille humide en travaillant rapidement. En utilisant cette stratégie, le dessous de la toiture est resté flou et semble s'éloigner. J'ai pu éviter les traits rigides que j’ai réservé pour le centre d’intérêt, soit les personnages.

Je ne prétends pas que ce croquis 8 par 10 po. est un chef-d'oeuvre. Avec raison, un ami m'a fait la remarque que c'aurait été préférable d'ajouter un personnage ou une forme de couleur chaude à l'avant-plan pour contraster avec le coloris froid. Il ne faut pas oublier qu'une pochade à l'aquarelle faite sur le motif ne devrait pas être comparer à une aquarelle faite en studio.

Meeting People

A good way to meet people is to paint or sketch outdoors. Most people are curious and interested to see an artist at work. When I am not too concentrated or when I am close to finishing a watercolor I gladly chat with a passerby. This particular day I had a wonderful conversation with a man whose country of origin was Morocco. During the brief exchange with the couple, I became more familiar with his culture and country of origin. So, if you happen to see me painting in Montreal, do initiate a brief exchange if you wish, unless you see that I am very concentrated because watercolor is a medium that requires intense concentration especially when it is hot and one must work fast.

Raynald Murphy

Trois cultures côte à côte en paix - Three Flags in Little Italy

Trois cultures côte à côte en paix

Mardi passé lors d’une randonné dans la Petite Italie j’ai aperçu trois drapeaux : celui de l’Italie, du Canada et du Québec devant un commerce sur le boul. St-Laurent au coin de Saint-Zotique. Je crois que ceci représente l’image des immigrants de l’Italie. Ils portent une importance égale aux trois cultures auxquelles ils appartiennent.

L’autre élément qui m’a porté à croquer cette rue est l’auvent blanc. À l’aquarelle, lorsqu’on perçoit un élément blanc, on est porté à choisir cette scène. Le blanc du papier est la lumière, un élément très important dans toute œuvre.

Some technical notes about watercolor

When I paint outdoors and indoors I don’t use frisket but I reserve my whites by painting around them. I find this gives a more natural and sketchy look since the application of frisket causes sharp indentations in the paper. I feel these white breaks left by the frisket distract and interrupt the flow of paint and tone varieties.

As I was completing this piece I noticed that red appeared only in the flag. So I added the red lights on the vehicles for balance. Also, I worked hard to achieve a sense of recession by keeping the foreground in hard focus and attempting to mute forms further down the street. I did this by laying in a thin Cobalt blue wash with a hint of cool red over the buildings and trees in the background.

I hope these little vignettes incite you to take a walk down the Main and especially Little Italy. I think you will fall in love with the “quartier”.

Raynald Murphy

Pause café au Marché Jean-Talon

I sketched this café scene in a Daler-Rowney 8.5 x 11in sketch book not long ago, drawing the forms with a point 03 felt marker (Prismacolor) and then rendering the values with Tombow water based markers.

What was interesting here was that the sitters kept moving places as I lifted my head. So some of them have a head from one body and the body or shape from another. I kept the very darks and blacks in the foreground since black comes forward and used the soft tones for the background stalls.

Cette scène se trouve au Marché Jean-Talon. C'est la Maison de Torrefaction (Café In) qui se trouve au côté sud du Marché. J'ai bu le meilleur thé vert ici, et en conversant avec un habitué il vient dégusté son café ici tous les jours. Je suis assis sur un banc à l'intérieur au bar et je regarde les gens sur la terrasse par une grande fenêtre ouverte.

J'aime la façon que les regards des gens sont variés, soit qu'ils regardent à gauche, à droite ou sont de dos.

Si vous passé au marché arrêtez-vous à un des cafés, peut-être vous allez me rencontrer en train de croquer.

Raynald Murphy

Café La Stellina - Marché Jean-Talon

Un Café aux auvents et parasols rouges

Par une belle journée ensoleillée je me suis rendu dans la Petite Italie cet après-midi au Marché Jean-Talon. En marchant dans la section sud du marché j’ai aperçu cet auvent rouge et deux parasols devant le Café. Je me suis pressé à trouver un endroit pour m’asseoir afin de peindre cette scène.

J’ai d’abord peins les sections ombragées d’un bleu violacé. Soudain, un homme aux pantalons blancs et à la chemise blanche s’est installé au centre. C’était l’élément qui me manquait pour contraster les tons froids. Peu après une dame vêtue de blanc s’est attarder pour acheter des fruits. C’était suffisant pour que je dessine son contour.

Pendant la durée de cette peinture j’ai salué plusieurs gens qui m’ont fait des compliments. Et j’ai entretenu une belle conversation avec un jeune homme qui m’invite à visité la ville de Sienne en Italie afin de dessiner et de peindre son architecture.

While painting this scene I was complimented by many passersby. However, I was most pleased when a couple of youngsters took the time to ask their parents to stop and look. When this happens, I usually ask the youth if he or she draws or paints. Most answer affirmatively. I think this is generally the rule rather than the exception. If I were to question the adults, I am quite certain that not as many would say they draw or paint. Although we cannot all be virtuosos in art, all of us can to a certain degree draw. We did so when we were young. Why did we stop? Drawing is communicating what we see, much like any language. Music is language and so is dancing. All the arts are a form of communication. The simplest is drawing. So, why not go back to your youth, pick up a pencil and draw what you see in your own way. Do it for its pure pleasure and don’t measure yourself to anyone. You might be surprised at how yen and relaxing drawing can be. Try it, you might like it, like you did when you were a young child.

 Raynald Murphy sca

The Main near Danté - Regards vers le sud de la Petite Italie

Clochers de l'église d'autrefois - Saint-Jean de-la-Croix

Voici une scène que j'ai composée du boulevard Saint-Laurent (Le Main) en regardant vers le sud. Je suis assis sur un banc pas loin de la rue Danté donc je suis dans le quartier de la Petite Italie. Les clochers de l'église (autrefois: Saint-Jean de-la-Croix)identifient une époque d'autrefois à Montréal lorsque les églises étaient remplies de catholiques tous les dimanches. Maintenant on les convertient en condos tel celle que vous apercevez. Le boulevard Saint-Laurent est devenu un sens unique à partir du Vieux-Montréal jusqu'à Jean-Talon il y a quelques temps.

Ces quelques mots identifient le lieu de cette aquarelle ainsi qu'un peu d'histoire d'un secteur de ma ville natale. J'ajoute quelques détails à propos du médium utilisé et la façon dont je l'ai peinte et voilà ce nouveau blog prend naissance aujourd'hui.

Après avoir illustré deux Carnets publié par les éditions Les Heures Bleues, soit Carnets de Montréal de A à Z ... en mots et en images (texte -François Barcelo) publié en 2007 et Carnets du Vieux-Montréal (texte et dessins, Yvon Masse) je travaille avec Yvon maintent pour illustrer Carnets du Richelieu. Nous faisons des randonnées en Montérégie une fois semaine afin de recueillir des aquarelles et dessins pour ce Carnets qui devrait paraitre en 2013. Entre temps je dois me tenir occupé à peindre et à dessiner afin de m'exercer! Donc, j'ai décidé d'explorer le Main de tout son long et peindre ce qui m'attire sur ce boulevard qui divise la ville de l'est et de l'ouest. Il se peut que je m'écarte de temps en temps et que j'illustre aussi les quartiers voisinants.

Suivez mon blog et vous suiverez mon parcours et vous verrez le Main de mes yeux.

Bon voyage.

Steeples of Yesteryears Church: Saint-Jean de-la-Croix

The other blog I publish, Art Plein Air, alternates between one blog whose text is written in French and the following one in English. I have decided to make my comments on this blog - The Main Plus -in both languages. Although the texts will not be a direct translation, the core message will be similar.

I sat one day about a month ago on a bench on St-Laurent boulevard, The Main, looking south. I took out my 8.5 x 11in. paper and painted this watercolor scene using a tiny half-pan Windsor & Newton paint box. The paper used was Strathmore Aquarius II. First, I sketched the drawing with a point 03 Prismacolor felt pen. Using a couple of travel paint brushes I added the color.

The area I am sitting in is Little Italy for those less familiar with the area. I was born not far from here so I did feel at home here and I was greeted warmly by quite a few passersby who commented positively on this sketch done near Danté Street and the Jean-Talon Market. The Church you see in the distance is now a condo. Once upon a time our Catholic churches were well occupied by worshipers. Our secular population now converts some of these places of worship into condos. That is good because our past architecture, which I love to draw, is preserved.

The reason I have initiated this blog, in parallel with the blog I started in 2007, Art Plein Air, is to  and keep my hand at drawing and painting in between the times I am out in the Montérégie area painting with my friend and author Yvon Masse for a third journal book, Carnets du Richelieu, which we hope to launch in 2013. In 2007 I illustrated Carnets de Montréal de A à Z ... en mots et en images. François Barcelo, the well-known autor wrote the text. In November of 2011, Yvon Masse and I launched Carnets du Vieux-Montréal. These are part of a series published by Les Heures Bleues. You will find these books at Renaud-Bray or Chapters/Indigo or in other book stores and in Museum boutiques around Montreal and Quebec.

If you follow my blog on the Main, I hope you will enjoy the watercolors and the sketches I intend to post. My intent is not to dwell on the artistic side here as much as I do on Art Plein Air but rather to integrate some historical notes and anecdotes about my travels as I more often than not meet people while I sketch on site. And these chance chats are often worth sharing. 

Raynald Murphy sca