Grey, greyer, greyest

Painting in poor weather is definitely a technical challenge, as well as a mental challenge, because you would rather be at home with a hot beverage and dry clothes than standing next to the Lachine canal in cold dark wet conditions. To do this painting I composed the 'hybrid trees' which have vertically textured bark on the bottom but horizontally textured bark on the top, along with the bike path and industrial scene in the background (the paper recycling factory). Its important to circle the light sources in a matching colour before starting, so as to keep that area fresh. There are two main lamps, several smaller lights, and a red light on top of the smoke stack. It was completed wearing the big oven-mitt sized gauntlet mitts due to wind chill. 

Grey bike path, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

I have seen this scene a few times, and decided to stop and paint it today, with not much light left at all. The sky was an odd colour, like patches of blue and pinkish orange interspersed with shades of grey. The commuter train went by a few times and I caught some of its detail and lighting effects. As with the other painting, all the white, yellow, orange and red areas had to be kept clear, while the greyish washes needed to stay put. This area, near Wellington, used to be a flat parking lot and bus depot, with single story buildings. Now, its teeming with soaring glass condos and busy commercial streets.   

Grey commuter train, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

In Old Port, the Ferris wheel was illuminated with tye-dyed colours which popped out of the gloomy greyish sky. I used combinations of indo blue (PB60) and pyrol orange (PO73). In fact, I used the same combo for the skies in the other paintings, but with a dab of raw sienna or yellow ochre plus water to neutralize and grey it down. As I mentioned once before, completing the 68 stations of the Montreal Metro series gave me an uncanny ability to mix shades of grey, mostly for concrete. In this painting, its more of a mauve and navy mix though, which looks good against the other lighting effects. 

Ferris wheel dark sky, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

 

Snowing in Montreal, industrial scenes

Montreal always has some surprises in store when it comes to the weather. Today was hovering around zero ℃ with snowfall that became rather wet. To paint this scene, I was standing up on the Glen hill escarpment behind the new hospital... there is an access road open to pedestrians and cyclists and a path that runs along a narrow ridge. Most of the view is st. Henri as seen from above. To paint the snow effect, I carefully brushed around little white spaces to give the illusion of snowflakes falling in front of the scenery. Its a daunting technique that requires precise brushwork. 

Snow falling vista, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

Down at the Atwater market they are selling holiday trees for Christmas, the whole parking lot area was full of them. I felt bad for the trees, technically they are still alive but disconnected from their root system. Sunlight was struggling through heavy winter clouds, creating an intense snow glow on the glistening asphalt. Snow came down the entire time I painted, making the results rather uncertain. At least I got the painting home without it smearing. Next time I should remember my 8 x 10" drying rack. 

Holiday trees snow glow, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, November 2025

To find shelter, I ventured into the Zen factory, an abandoned structure on st Patrick, despite all the warning signs, contamination and risk of collapse. Most of the flooring was gone, the stairs rickety, and electrical wires were dangling all over. I was impressed with the amount of graffiti inside the building, you can see some in the painting, which looks out towards the old Maltage building and pink house. Now, if I really was inside the building, you might be wondering why snow was falling on the painting. This could have been an egregious use of artistic license, I am known to exaggerate from time to time! 

Inside Zen factory? watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

I completed this painting on a previous trip downtown, its a massive excavation on the corner of st Catherine and st Hubert where a row of shops and apartment used to be. I am looking into the pit, with a view of the colourful construction fencing, and a variety of different foundations below. Some foundations were stacked stone, probably well over 100 years old, while other foundations were more modern brick or concrete. It was like an urban archeology site, one that will soon be filled in with new developments. 

Foundations, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

 

South Central, Molson, sunny day

Viger park is located on top of the underground autoroute 136, they covered the highway to create the park, some seating, and a dog area. I am standing in the park looking east towards the Cartier bridge, in the middle ground you can see a sliver of the underground highway, and the foreground has a little berm of snowy grass. There was a lot of detail here for a small paper, I used to number 2 brush to work up the outlines and fill. Its a such a good spot to stand, with good sun, I could go back one day and do a bigger version of this scene. 

Viger park bridge view, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

There was full sun today, with just a few clouds here and there. I had to remember how to paint sun lit surfaces and shadows, its been a long time painting night scenes and gloomy overcast scenes. The main structure here, which still has the iconic clock and MOLSON sign, looks like it might be saved from demolition, but its hard to tell what they could do with it, now that the brewery has moved. The plan was to build community housing, and to extend the old port tourist area. 

Molson full sun, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, November 2025

Viger park has seen better days, it looks like it was built in the 60's or 70's judging by the quality of the concrete. A large circular mosaic of blue and green slabs has crumbled and eroded to the point of being a work of art in its own right. A photo would have done it justice, but I took a crack at making a painting. The textured, gnarly trees completed this somewhat creepy scene. 

Broken tiles, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

Google maps says this is called Ancien hôpital de la Miséricorde, its on Rene Leveque and st Hubert streets. The whole thing is abandoned now and the graffiti people have started painting parts of the facade. After some reading, it turns out the whole structure is owned by the city and might be turned into affordable housing, and a clinic may open again. 

Abandonded hospital, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025 

On the way downtown I stopped at Place des Arts to take in the sun. A parade was going along st Catherine which blocked the whole north south transit. So I continued along Maisonneuve path until I got to South Central neighborhood to make the bridge and park paintings. 

Snow pile Place des Arts, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025 

Night skating downtown, pink and green lights

The other day I painted a scene of the city workers preparing the downtown ice rink, because I was wearing a neon green bib people thought I worked for them and asked me when the rink would be open! It got me thinking to try this scene again, at the end of the Montreal night colours blog you see an attempt from last year during a cold snap. This year, they doubled the size of the rink due to popular demand, it is located just south east of the spectacles park, along st Catherine. The lights were rotating between magenta and cyan, with shades of violet in between. Getting into the painting and the water started to freeze, but I was prepared with salt water and switched over to finish the painting. Another cool (freezing!) painting of a skating rink was skating rink in cyan. 

Night skating downtown in magenta, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, November 2025

Up and to the right, I saw a green glow from the Complexe Desjardins, it was like, who needs the Northern Lights when you have this to look at? It was a technical painting, done with salt water, the trick was in the timing of the sections so as to avoid wet-in-wet effects. It was quite fun painting a green sky like this, it reminds me of the Finland painting from my World Inspired Landscapes series. 

Green aura skyline, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025 

Sundown in South Central neighborhood

Apparently there is a neighborhood called South Central, its located east of the Gay Village and west of Hochelaga, roughly centered on the Papineau metro station which you can see in the foreground of this painting. In the background of course, is the other defining feature of this neighborhood, the Jacques Cartier bridge with the very last of the sun catching its top. With the wind chill, I did the entirety of this painting wearing the deer-skin gauntlet mitts which resemble oven-mitts. I've gotten a lot better at painting with these gloves on, I even used the small number 2 brush to do most of this painting. 

Last light Jacques Cartier bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

A gas station on the corner made good contrasts with the bridge in the background. Green and red will always produce some drama, and the angled bridge against the perpendicular gas station made for decent composition. In this case, I had to complete the fine details at home from memory because it was extremely moist on location and it was the last painting of the day. 

Bridge over gas station, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

This was the first painting on location... sometimes there is an adjustment period, in other words, the first painting sucks. But I kind of saw where the limits were considering the conditions, it was hovering around 0 ℃ with much colder windchill, and I could use fresh water today, no need for salt. Big wet washes simply wont work very well in cold humid conditions, its better to fill in areas with small brush strokes. Over the years, I actually developed a different technique for winter/cold weather painting as compared to summer. Quite a few people today took a look and congratulated/encouraged me to paint on a day like today. 

Bridge over Maisonneuve, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025 

Cool cat night in the city

With a cold and blustery late afternoon, I rode my bike along the Maisonneuve bike path heading downtown. This scene caught my eye, and when the cat walked along the train tracks, it all came together. Of course, the cat didn't pose for me, so I tried to memorize its shape and apply it first, then added the train tracks and rest of the scene, including the graffiti on the wall. In the background is the busy corner where Cavendish intersects with st Jacques. The treeline in the background is the upper portion of the Falaise escarpment forest. 

Cat along tracks, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

In st Henri the train goes by frequently at this time of day. A subtle pastel sky played well against the dark green pine trees and subtle blue-grey foreground. Some textures in the foreground completed the illusion of depth. I thought about touching this one up at home, but preferred to leave it as is, with a soft dreamy quality. 

Train crossing pastel sky, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

This scene shows one of the footbridges that goes over the canal, along with a pastel reflection in the water. The classic black fence in the foreground provides necessary contrast. It was almost dark upon completion of this painting, but I forged ahead anyways. 

Canal pastel reflections, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

Standing on the corner of Wellington and Robert Bourassa looking north west... there was this view of Place Ville Marie building in the background with its characteristic pink lights on the top. Traffic was pouring out of the city along the street which created a variety of light and dark contrasts. Hundreds of other lights could be seen in building windows, and artificial lamps in yellow, orange and white. It was a grueling painting to make on location, with a strong, cold west wind pelting me, and some damp conditions. After doing this one, I had another piece of paper ready to go, but passed on a few scenes in order to go home and get a hot cup of tea and see my favorite person in Montreal. 

Robert Bourassa Place Ville Marie, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025 

Winter and everything Montreal

Downtown near the Park du Quartier des spectacles, there is a large skating rink they were preparing today. It seemed wishful thinking that the rink would stay frozen for any amount of time, it will continue to get warmer next week, although tonight it will be below freezing. A small Zamboni was zooming around the rink making the surface ready for skaters. 

Ready the skating rink, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

Painting orange and purple pylons, a protest went by... something to do with PEQ. After some internet research, it turns out that PEQ stands for Programme de l'expérience québécoise, it was a program meant to fast track permanent residency for foreign workers or students. It has been cancelled now, and presumably, these protestors were people who would have been otherwise eligible for the program. Several of my graduate students used this program to gain residency after they graduated. Those students I supervised at the University all have jobs now in the high tech sectors, biomedical and pharmaceutical research, and a few in medical school. 

Pylons and protestors, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025

Even though the temperature was slightly above zero ℃, the windchill felt significantly colder, and it was wet wind. Along st Urbain there is a police station, and many cop cars and SUV's park on the street. Last time, the vehicles were under yellow trees, which created neat reflections. There was also a scene of cop cars parked up and down Berri for the Palestine protests, as seen in the last painting of this blog from September. Painting vehicles is tricky due to their odd shapes and perspective. The perspective makes it so the front of the car is about half the size as the back of the car, but it depends how far away the car is. Sometimes you just gotta paint and not think about it. 

 Cop SUV snow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, November 2025