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