Winter paintings along the Maisonneuve bike path

With the path clear I could easily ride my bike along the Maisonneuve bike path and make a few paintings along the way. The first one shows a few of the trees at Westmount park with the shadows cascading over the snow. In the background is mount royal.

Snow shadows, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, December 2024

In front of the bicycle shop there is an old car, probably a Volvo, on stilts and in disrepair. With strong wind coming across from the east, it was a good challenge to stay warm and make a painting. Everything held up but my toes were a little cold throughout the trip. At least the hands and fingers were fine.

Ccar on stilts, watercolour 5 x 7.5" cold press, December 2024

This is about where Maisonneuve turns south and Ontario street carries on. Initially, I wanted to paint more of the snow on the grass in the foreground, but the background buildings were very tall to fit onto the paper. I will try to figure out how to get bigger paper on location in the winter.

Maisonneuve/Ontario street, watercolour 5 x 7.5" cold press, December 2024

These chimneys had great silver plumes, likely condensed water from laundry outlets rather than smoke. Burning wood is illegal in and around Montreal. With the sun coming from behind, the plumes were illuminated. I really pushed the limits of when you can do in the winter with this one, and like the last painting, a bigger piece of paper would have allowed more of the components to fit in. After painting 6 x 7.5 and 8 x 10 all summer, its an adjustment going back to the 5 x 7. Actually I cut them 5 x 7.5 to use the whole sheet.

Chimneys cold day, watercolour 5 x 7.5" cold press, December 2024

Cold windy day paintings by bike

On a day like today with solid -20℃ windchill the best place in town is standing right next to the st Lawrence river where the wind chill is probably double that. The water was not fully frozen, but slushy chunks of ice were floating around and washing up on the small rocky beach. In the background is the south canal seaway wall which has a bike path and is surrounded by trees. On the other side would be Kahnawà:ke. I could not quite do justice to the ice effect, but it was good enough just to hold on to my paintbrush and paper under the fierce wind.

Ice on rocky beach, watercolour 5 x 7.5" cold press, December 2024

 On the way back I did a painting of the last barn in Lachine, it sits amidst new condo developments, and one feels that it may not be there forever given its dilapidated state. In the foreground is the Lachine canal partly frozen and covered in snow. When painting outdoors in winter one has to simplify the scenes a little, over the years I developed a different style in the winter than how I paint in the summer.

Last barn in Lachine, watercolour 5 x 7.5" cold press, December 2024

Looking back to the west, the sun was going down behind the elevated highway over the canal. It created interesting blue shadows on the frozen water. The neat thing about the blurred-effect on the highway is that it draws more attention to the shadows, and gives the sense of a sun almost melting the environment. I kind of like this painting, maybe I can fit it into the Lachine Canal painting book I am working on.

Sundown over elevated highway, watercolour 5 x 7.5" cold press, December 2024

 

Carwash snowy evening

Yesterday just as the sun was going down I stopped on the Maisonneuve bike path and painted one of the two car washes that is still there. Many of the small shops have been plowed over for new condo developments. Keeping the highlights in was the key, the signs and windows were illuminated while everything else was grey brown and blue. With extra salt in the water it dries slower and creates blurred effects here and there. I went on to do a bunch more paintings that night as seen in the previous couple of blogs.

Carwash snowy evening, watercolour 5 x 7.5" cold press, December 2024

Skating rink in cyan on a snowy night

The last painting of the day was this scene down in the Old Port where a lot of people were skating on this ring under multi-coloured lights. I had to pick a colour for the painting since it was moving between the whole rainbow of options every minute or two. Since I did a magenta skating rink last time, I went with cyan this time, thinking it would look good against the purple sky, black buildings, and yellow windows. It was snowing by now, and you can see the actual snow that landed on the wet painting turned into whitish marks that resemble snow. The cyan section was too moist so the snow just turned to water and made everything blur together. I thought about touching it up at home, even my initials are illegible, but then I kind of liked the blurred effect, it gave the feeling of movement and skating in the snow on a cold Montreal night. Tomorrow is officially Winter, so let go!

Skating rink cyan, watercolour 5 x 7.5" cold press, December 2024

Warming up in Vendome station

When it got dark I turned into Vendome station and warmed up a bit, then got the lights attached to my bike. Before heading out again I made this painting looking west towards the main front entrance. The staircase on the left provided the compositional anchor, its where everyone walks down to get to the metro platforms. Searching for good scenes in the stations is tricky, the main thing is to find some good contrast and a strong light effect to cut through all the grey. Over 2021 - 2022 I made a tour of all the 68 Metro stations in Montreal, the vast majority of the series was done from the outside although there were a few interior scenes like De Castelnau, and Bonadventure. If I paint in Montreal more this winter, I will need to find a place to warm up every now and then.

Warming up Vendome station, watercolour 5 x 7.5" cold press, December 2024

On a cold and windy night

Heading down the Maisonneuve bike path on a cold and windy night with full bike lights I found a couple of scenes to paint including this one looking back west at a bike detour sign. This part of the path has been blocked off for more than 5 years now due to the Peel station renovations. Keeping the colours clean is tricky, especially the bright orange. I have a clean salty water, and the waste container with dirty salt water and I use both to paint. If its the dark sky I use dirty water, if its the clear colours I use the clean water. 

Bike detour, watercolour 5 x 7.5" cold press, December 2024

This dépanneur does not appear to have a name, even on google maps it was not listed. But its there, I swear. The wind comes down Maisonneuve pretty strong here, the massive Alexis Nihon mall and all the towers, with the mountain not too far to the north creates a wind tunnel. Fun times with the minus umpty-ump wind chill factor.

Dépanneur Maisonneuve x Fort watercolour 5 x 7.5" cold press, December 2024

Taking a detour down into the Place des Arts metro with my bike to warm up and sort my gear out, I made this painting of the famous mural reflecting off the topaz-coloured floor. For simplicity I did not try to paint all the people. A lot of homeless people warm up in the station and often talk to me, one person went on and on but was also standing in the way at the beginning. The art depicted is part of the long display done by Frédéric Back called the History of Music in Montreal.

Place des Arts warming up, watercolour 5 x 7.5" cold press, December 2024

Sunset through trees, park Trenholme

At the center of Trenholme park in NDG there is an old stone structure with white plaster and orange trim, likely a 1960's era construction. Inside there is a small volleyball court and during elections it is a voting station. I made this painting while waiting for the Thursday Lufa Farm vegetable delivery at park Trenholme. We click on the options on the web site and a truck brings it in a plastic bin for pickup each week. The weather was surprisingly nasty, with close to -20℃ windchill, but it did not deter my efforts. In the midst of doing a painting like this, I sometimes stop feeling the physical cold momentarily. Its all in your head really, although it could end up in frostbite if one is not careful. Hopefully the weekend is amenable for painting, it was a bit of a slow art week with the lousy weather and me being tired. Looking forward to the week off next week.

Sunset through trees, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, December 2024