I walked down to the Lachine canal today it was 3km and took about 30 minutes one way. There were very few people around but I wore a mask the whole time anyways (mostly to keep my face warm). The canal is slowly freezing, there was a wavy line where the ice was creeping across the water, as you see in the painting. The ice colour was a navy-brown and the texture had a marbled appearance. There were sheets of snow that had blown over the ice creating additional patterns. In the background is Ville st. Pierre which is part of Lachine. Going on paining trips these days is more of a challenge, mainly due to the cold and the weather conditions which make it difficult to be comfortable and do a watercolour on location. After some adjustments to my clothing and painting technique the paintings are working out well although I know they can be even better.
Lachine Canal, encroaching Ice 6 x 9" cold press watercolour, December 2020
This scene is looking to the west you see the train bridge in the distance which I painted this fall closer up, and you see one of the many highway overpasses. I think the only reason they kept the canal in tact was to justify building condos and highway overpasses. The entire canal was frozen over, you can see the marbled textures and blowing snow effect. I was sitting on a little platform that sits above the canal, it is protected by a fence, but I wouldn't have wanted to drop a brush or anything. I almost dropped my palette because it was stuck and I was wearing thick gloves. Both of today's paintings required touch ups at home, because they would not dry on location. In fact, I walked half way home with this one in my hand and it was still moist. I added 50 grams of salt to 333g of water today which is the exact amount required to prevent water from freezing at -10C.
Lachine Canal Ice, Overpass and Bridge 6 x 9" cold press watercolour, December 2020
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