Windy, Icy Ride on the Canal Bike Path

For the umpteenth time I rode down through Ville st Pierre to the Lachine Canal path and found that almost ninety percent of the path was completely thawed. The rest of it was rock hard ice from weeks of freeze/thaw cycles. This train bridge is a familiar motif by now, I painted it from the same vantage point in the fall of 2019 and fall of 2020, not to mention numerous other scenes from various angles and times of year. If I ever do put together a book I think the Lachine Canal would be a good topic!

Train Bridge end of Winter, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, April 2023 (No. 3424)

 

I actually rode as far as the end of the park near Lachine, but the wind coming down the river was just too fierce. On the return, I found a good spot to stand with the wind at my back and a view of the first set of locks along the Lachine Canal. In the foreground is the locks holding back the melted water. Beyond, is the frozen water that runs under the bridge to Lachine and onwards down the canal. I ran out of black paint today, in fact, I was using my depleted winter palette in the hopes of finishing it off. At the end of season I give the palette a power-clean with scouring cream (Vim) which totally removes all the staining pigments like phthalo blue/green and quinacridone violets. I like the depth in this painting, it really gets the scene across.

First Locks Frozen Canal, watercolour 8 x 10" rough press, April 2023 (No. 1286b)