On my trip to Montreal, back when Montreal was not my home, I made a number of paintings in the cold of Winter. One has to add salt to the water to prevent freezing, but even then the paint will freeze when it starts to hit around -15, - 20 Celsius (about 0 Fahrenheit). It was milder than that for most of the painting. When it does get that cold, the other main problem is staying alive, so it is not easy to paint watercolours when trying to survive. 5 x 8" cold press, watercolour, 1998?
For this one, I found an opening behind the youth hostel with a good view, these buildings would be just south of the 720 highway, part of little Burgundy. The hazy sunset and smoke was a nice touch. The concrete of the highway was very old, it was that brown colour and crumbling. Most of the highways have been renovated or rebuilt now. 5 x 7" cold press, watercolour, 1998?
Finally, this is a scene of University of McGill campus, what is now the Arts Building. The rough texture you see all over is the paint wash freezing, and then drying with an ice-crystal pattern. If you are water colour painter, you can try to simulate this by putting your painting in the freezer while it is still drying. Or, try sitting in sub zero winter weather with your gear. The more I write about winter painting, them more I want to try it again this winter. I will see how I feel when it is actually 20 below! 5 x 7" cold press, watercolour, 1998?
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