Once again I headed down to the canal path hoping that the snow and ice had melted, however, it was still slick, icy and impassable by bike. Instead I walked with my bike eastward towards the overpass connecting with NDG. Along the way I found a few views to paint. This one was looking back towards Mount Royal, with the escarpment in the middle ground and rows of reeds in the foreground. Lots of earth colours were used to make this painting including yellow ochre, burnt sienna and raw umber (PY43, PR101, PBr7).
Reeds and Snow, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, March 2023 (No. 3414b)
The sky was pastel blue, yellow-orange, and purple, while the thawing canal ice was a pastel cyan (turquoise). With a rather delicate palette of colours I decided not to overlay the tree, which had been the original plan. I made an uncharacteristic mistake on the background tree line and blotted it all out with a damp rag, but you would not even notice the repair. This paper is amenable to lifting an repainting.
Melting Canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, March 2023 (No. 3415a)
In one particular area along the canal there are rows of what I call hybrid trees. They have a rough, greenish-brown bark on the bottom half, and a smooth greyish birch-like bark on the top half and branches. The scene here is similar to the last painting, but I emphasized the tree and de-emphasized the background elements.
Hybrid Tree, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, March 2023 (No. 3416a)
On the way back I caught a glimpse of the massive snow pile where they dump all the snow that is removed from roads. As it melts, a dark brown mountain of sand and grit is left over. Scrub trees were in the middle ground and foreground, illuminated in a warm yellow light. I wasn't sure if I could get the tree overlay to work, it was done with yellow ochre (PY43), orange (PO62) and burnt sienna (PR101). It looks like an alien moonscape?
Dirty Snow Mountains, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, March 2023 (No. 3415b)
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