Water Lilies and scenes of Lachine canal

Where part of the st Lawrence river funnels into the Lachine canal there is a large bay full of seaweed and water lilies. You always have to think of Monet when painting water lilies, he painted them almost exclusively in his final years at Giverny France. Painting lilies in oil paint has the advantage of over-painting the highlighted elements, whereas in watercolour one has to preserve the white and yellow areas while painting around. At least if I need to practice more I know where to find water lilies. Park Angrignon also has quite a few in the central pond area. 

Lilies near shore, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, August 2025

This small bridge is for pedestrians and cyclists, it connects Lachine to the narrow spits of land around the old canal. The walls of the canal look pretty old and in disrepair, you can see the concrete peeling and cracking all around, with large plaster squares where they made repairs. I suppose these various channels were for ships to wait their turn to enter the canal, now they are just for the odd canoe or kayaker. There is also a huge iron gear embedded in the ground around here, which means there used to be a rotating bridge long ago. I will try to dig up some old images to see what it used to be. 

Lilies under bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, August 2025

Way back in April, I painted the freshly cut tree stumps along the canal bike path, the wood was toasty yellow with signs of worm holes. Today I went by and noticed that the trees have grown out of the stumps creating spherical foliage that look like manicured shrubs. Given enough time, these trees might be able to grow back, although one wonders if they will meet the same fate. The coolest thing about this painting is the shine on the bike path asphalt, I did it with a mix of blue (PB60) and raw sienna (PBr7), then blue (PB60) and maroon (PR179) near the foreground. Keeping the value contrast going from middle grey at the bottom to near white at the top gave the impression of recent rainfall reflecting off the asphalt. The yellow lines were a mix of yellow (PY154) with orange (PO62). 

Stumpy trees, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, August 2025