Sun down in NDG another chilly day

As the sun went down in NDG, I rode westward and caught this view of several squirrel nests in a tree over rue st Jacques. The sky was done first using concentric rings of yellow, orange, red-orange and blue. After completing most of the bottom elements the sky had dried sufficiently to paint over the tree and nests. The wood rack that holds the paper down must have slipped because all the branches stop short of the top of the sky, something I might have to touch up. I also added the initials to all these paintings at home because they were far too moist to do it on location.

Squirrel nests over rue st Jacques, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, December 2024

On location I had the feeling that this was the worst of the lot, most of the edges bled, meaning they blurred together with the adjacent elements. However, when I saw the scan, the pastel sky turned out fantastic and the whole composition really came together better than I thought. There were several little white chunks of paper that I decided to leave in, and now they look like gleaming highway signs and really add to the effect. There was a time when I would not even attempt to paint a sky like this, and indeed it takes careful control over the paint moisture and the colour varieties. The first painting I remember doing with the yellow-sun ring technique was the blue house with icicles in 2021. This year I did the outrageous sunset on Girouard scene, and the very technical piece setting sun through tree.

Sundown over highway and condos, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, December 2024

Along the relatively new walking and biking path that stretches from west NDG to east NDG along the lake shore*, I attempted a complex scene depicting the path, trains and highway. The curvatures played well off each other, but the moist conditions limited the amount of detail that could be created. I will have to return under more ideal conditions with a bigger piece of paper, or come back when it snows. One of the best paintings I did this year was right here, train winter blast, that one will definitely be on my short list as I prepare the painting year in review blog. 

* I am referring to the area in this view as the lake shore, because that is what it was prior to the creation of the Lachine canal. In old times, this land was part of the st Lawrence river and would have been filled up when the water was high. It must have been a sight to behold, and no doubt the indigenous people would have fished and congregated around this lake.

Path trains and highway, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, December 2024