Between 6th and 12th
Posted: February 21, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized 27 CommentsSunday morning is always a favourite time to paint street scenes — before the stores open and the bustle of the day starts. I love to have the street to myself, and that section of Notre Dame in Lachine, between about 6th and 12th, is ideal because of that small town feel and the old warehouse at the end of the street that closes off the view. I don’t often use pure red in my paintings but that section of the street is lined with red lampposts, so I used a limited palette of organic vermillion, cobalt blue, burnt sienna, cerulean blue and indanthrane blue. Not so limited really, but mostly reds and blues. Painted on Arches 140 lb, cold press, 15″ x 11″. About 2 hours.
Shari Blaukopf's Sketchbook 
I’m not familiar with indanthrane blue. Is it similar to indigo? Transparent?
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Hi Jan. It is similar to Indigo, but it has no black in it so it doesn’t dirty up the other colours like Indigo does. I love them both for really dark, darks.
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Apart from evocative character of your wonderful paintings Shari, you are amassing an extensive record of the cultural landscape of Montreal and West Montreal. Cities are dynamic – they constantly change and adapt to new needs and the patterns they create. 50 years from now, the scenes you have painted will be recognizable but markedly different at the same time.
I hope that can be documented as a book or show at some point.
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What a wonderful comment John. Thanks so much. This painting was a commission for someone who has an office on this street and really appreciates the historical character of the area. After I posted the painting on Facebook, I was also contacted by someone who is working on events for the 350th anniversary of Lachine. So I am not the only one interested in documenting these types of scenes. I hope put these in a book someday, but at this point it may end up being a retirement project…
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Looks like the perfect time for sketching. Well done!
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It was. Thanks Joan.
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wow – your detail is amazing. I hope you will compile all of these into a beautiful book of the area 🙂
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I hope to do that one of these days Jodi. Thanks so much for writing.
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This is fantastic, Shari! I was scrolling through the reader quickly and almost thought it was a photograph. The details and light are so wonderful!
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Wow, thanks Charlie!
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I agree ..first word that popped into my mind..fantastic.
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Thanks Monique!!
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Yes, agree with all the comments and also that suggestion that this would make a great book! Interesting choice of color palette – I love Indianthrane blue – I use it in acrylics and am always pleasantly surprised at the variety of mixtures it can produce – awesome for night skies too.
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Thanks Gayle. I would love to do a book someday. It’s always at the back of my mind.
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I am so enjoying your blog. You are an amazing artist, able to turn the most boring of scenes into a delicious nibble. I look forward to your daily blogs. This last scene, an entire painting, in just two hours! wow!
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You are very kind Sally. Thanks so much for taking the time to write.
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Cannot wait to use arches paper,seems pricey but may be worth it.what are your thoughts on watercolor concentrates.
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It is worth the price for good paper. It will completely change the way your work looks. More than anything else (brushes, paint) it is worth spending on paper. I have wasted many good sketches by using poor paper. I try not to do that anymore.
I had to look up what watercolour concentrates are. Of course I know them. When I was learning illustration in university, we called them Dr. Martins inks. Because of that I think of them more as illustration tools rather than painting tools. I love using both thin and thick watercolour pigment so I probably wouldn’t much like painting with concentrates although I could see using them in smaller sketches when very saturated colour is what you are aiming for.
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I love the way you get the cars to look realistic but random, if you see what I mean. And the flatness of the street – amazing.
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Ah, cars. Always so difficult for me. I think I have a mental block with cars.
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I like the perpective view, wide street and the electrical wires, even thougfh it was cold your warm colors make it looking great. Excellent wotk.
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If I paint a Lachine scene, I can always count on you Andre. Thanks so much.
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I also agree with all the comments. Your work is awesome! This looks like a scene from a movie. Everything is just “right” in this painting 😀😀
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You are very kind Linda. Much appreciated.
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Good! Really good!
Even the cars aren’t bad! (that was really hard to type… I almost choked)
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Have you recovered yet? It must have taken everything out of you to write that.
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Yes. Very draining… fortunately it doesn’t happen often.
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