Flurries downtown campus

At the downtown Concordia campus there were snow flurries as you can see from this view just outside the library. In the background is Mount Royal seen through the city, shrouded in snow fall. Looking up Mackay street, there were a lot of cars parked and driving south, its a one way street. Snow was coming down onto the painting which created some neat effects. 

Mount Royal view through city, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, December 2025

Painting the garbage can first, it ended up looking a lot bigger than in real life. Common sense is to paint the sidewalk and skyline first, then fill in the details so as to maintain good proportions on the objects. But it just felt fun to paint the garbage can, one of my favorite motifs, first, then frame the rest of the painting around it. Despite the steady snow flurries, I got enough detail into the scene, and saw the after effects of snow falling on the painting. 

Big bin corner snow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, December 2025

Moon over condos, lamp and xmas trees

Despite the creeping cold weather I pushed on into the downtown core and found some more scenes to paint. I could not have timed this better had I tried... the glowing moon was hanging just over the Habs condo. Habs are the nickname for the Montreal Canadiens... they owned land around the hockey arena and built several massive condos over the past decade. To paint the moon effect I used raw sienna (PBr7) and indo blue (PB60) and a touch of yellow ochre (PY43). Towards the corners I applied concentrated purple (PB60 + PO73) and then diluted it towards the horizon line while tinting more towards violet. To make this sky effect, I had to control the hue, value and moisture levels all while wearing the oven mitts!

Moon over habs condos, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, December 2025

The Atwater market parking lot is full of xmas trees waiting for a home. Strong flood lights illuminate the area, and a big red-orange dumpster decorated the foreground. In the background, there are rows of giant glass condo buildings and office skyscrapers. There is a lot of detail in a small painting like this, once has to hang in there when the temperature drops. Not too many painters were out there last night, just one by my count! 

Lamp xmas trees dumpster, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, December 2025 

I have to admit its getting colder....

Like the Beatles sung, I have to admit its getting colder....its getting colder all the time. Okay, they said better not colder. Luckily I brought along some extra salt because my salt water was not salty enought and the sky started to freeze in this painting. On the palette the paint turned to slush and I knew it was cold! Dumping in about an ounce of salt, it worked perfectly and I could continue painting for the night. All of these paintings were done wearing the gauntlet mitts, which are like oven mitts covered in deerskin, I got them from Canada Outfitters by delivery, a retail outlet in Toronto area. 

Canal gantry crane frozen sky, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, December 2025

While the sky dried in the first painting, I did a second one looking east along the frozen bike path. Parts of it were like a skating rink and I had to tread carefully with the bike. In the background you see the gantry crane next to the night canal, it was once used to move shipping containers and large peices of iron on and off barges. One of the main uses of the canal was in putting together bridges... Lachine had a brdige construction factory that assembled iron bridge spans and transported them to their building sites around the river. 

Lamps path canal crane, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, December 2025

The canal was half frozen, in places you could see the unfrozen water next to iced water. I tried to paint the two types of surfaces. On the unfrozen water reflections were crisp and high contrast, while on the iced water reflections were blurry and low contrast. I painted the unfrozen effect with dry brush, while the iced effect was a wet-in-wet technique. In the background you see the lachine canal, traffic on st Patrick, and a couple of converted Condos.  There was one star out last night, very visible and due south, maybe it was a planet. I put it in all three paintings. 

Two textured reflection, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, December 2025 

Bolton scenes exterior and interior

Bolton is a small community north of Toronto where I spent a good part of my childhood and my parents still live there in the family home. Backing onto a ravine, there are some good scenes of the valley and a storm pond like you see in the painting. I could not believe that geese were still trying to hang out in the last of the water, with the frozen surface slowly encroaching on them. There even appeared to be smaller ones swimming about with the adults. Hope they made it out before it froze completely. 

Last water pond, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

Using some Van Gogh techniques, I created swirling, textural effects in the grasses growing down in the valley. There were also willow trees and other trees in the background without any leaves. With all the brown and beige, it was important to create energy with the directional brush strokes. In the foreground, tall grass had been matted down with sparse snow. 

Grassy valley, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

The surface of the creek was partially frozen, creating translucent reflections. To paint the reflections, I applied a thin wash of dilute blue-grey, let it dry a bit while I worked on other parts of the painting, and then painted in the reflections and transparencies. For the rest of the painting, I made sure to leave enough white showing to indicate snowfall, and to break up the blocks of brown and grey. 

Partially frozen creek, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

Turning to the interior of the house, here is a painting of a spider plant in a turquoise pot sitting on the kitchen table. Van Gogh also made still life paintings, and I tried to emulate the style, complete with trippy background. With extreme cold in the forecast, I might do a few still life paintings here in the condo. 

Spider plant turquoise pot, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

The other day I noticed that you can see the dark side of the moon if you look closely, its the exact same value as the background sky, but with an orange tint instead of a blue tint. I got the colour about right but the value was too dark. In the rest of the painting you see stars, the houses in the background and some trees from the valley in the foreground. I was sitting at the kitchen table looking out for this one. 

Two toned half moon, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

 

Train over Peel and Wellington

After doing a smaller study of this train bridge over Peel and Wellington, I wanted to do a slightly larger version so as to capture the full effect. It was quite dark by now, and the only nearby lamp was amber which made colours difficult to judge. The underside of the bridge, a smooth concrete, was reflecting the glow of the city, including lamps, traffic lights, and a multitude of cars. A passenger train rumbled by overhead, with people sitting comfortably in train cars. To paint this, I first established the main shapes with a small #2 paintbrush, then preceded to fill in the colour blocks, finishing with textures, car details and colourful condo windows. It definitely captures the moment. If you were standing here and turned around, you would see the Peel basin and famous Farine Five Roses in bright red neon.   

Train over Peel and Wellington, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, November 2025

Evening scenes pops of colour

It gets so dark here, it could be 5PM and its dark already. Wings noodles was a famous Chinese restaurant that also manufactured fortune cookies and noodles for distribution. They are shuttered now, and the building's ownership is up in the air. The previous shopkeepers wish to make a museum there, which would be good for tourism. And the museum food would be fantastic. 

Wings encroaching condos, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

The buildings along main street Chinatown are of all different ages and architecture. The upper floors seem dark, with the occasional light on, perhaps there are apartments up there. The entire ground level are small shops selling art, noodles, souvenirs, and all sorts of things, this part of the street is still very active. 

Chinatown storefronts, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

Crescent street has a number of famous pubs, many of which I have been to once or twice. This one had red, blue and green lights decorating its facade, with a multitude of buildings and windows in the background. Its a striking scene in real life, and always busy with people around here. To paint something like this, the colour and light areas need to be done first, then paint around until it fills in. Once the dark sky is complete, the whole scene comes together. 

Crescent street colours, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

Autumn colours glass buildings

Earlier in the month the autumn colours were finally emerging, with red, yellow and shades of olive all over the city. This scene from downtown Montreal contrasts the towering glass and concrete buildings in the background with the delicate trees in the foreground. Its as if the trees are holding up the sturctures. In the foreground there is a bus stop, and a signature garbage can. To mix autumn leaf colours, I blend earth pigments with synthetic pigments... for example yellow ochre (PY43) with benzi yellow (PY184) or burnt sienna (PR101) with pyrol red (PR254). That produces about 3/4 chroma colours that are between being dull and bright. If you use pure synthetic pigments it looks unnaturally bright, while pure earth colours will look too drab. I've nearly updated the catalogue again, at 920 painting for the year so far. 

Autumn colours glass buildings, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025 (No. 4906b)