Mostly Frozen Canal, Always Fresh

 

This is the same location where I painted Canal on a Snowy Night last year, but the composition rests mostly upon the S shape of the canal, and the weather was much better. The canal surface was mostly frozen, with thin patches showing the dark blue-green water underneath. The dark blue-green was perylene green (PBk31) and dark blue (PB60). The sky transitioned from pale turquoise on the horizon (dilute PG7) to a rich blue towards the top (PB15 sapphire). The bridge was also dark turquoise, made with some combination of the paints listed above. It may look like a dark greyish painting, but it takes a good working knowledge of the blue-green part of the colour wheel to pull it off.

Mostly Frozen Canal with pedestrian Bridge, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2024

 

With all the University budget cuts and things I better practice my painting skills extra hard, just kidding nobody with tenure at least has to worry about their jobs, but I may have to start raising funds for research! The best way to make money from art is to paint pictures of cats and the like, it certainly is not going to be very profitable painting mountains of dirty snow. I couldn't resist the soft texture of beige and neutral blue, representing sand and dirty snow that the plows are constantly removing from the streets and highways. In the Spring and Summer this pile will shift to beige and charcoal black/brownish. Now if a cat could just walk by and I would paint it...

Mountain of Dirty Snow, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2024

 

Against this backdrop, "always fresh" seemed like wishful thinking. Surrounded by highways, overpasses, and light industrial traffic, this donut store is in a horrible place. Its literally on one of the most dangerous corners in Montreal. To capture the dystopian scene, I used plenty of carbon black and a variety of greys. Considering the difficult conditions and salty water, there was far too much detail to attempt, so I had to touch up some of the fuzzy edges at home afterwards. You get the idea though, just imagine the haze, the road dust, the noise and the smell of diesel. Most Canadians will recognize the sign instantly even though I kept it vague out of necessity.

Always Fresh, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2024