Low sun cool day in Montreal by bicycle

This view is looking west along the Lachine canal right around the Atwater market, you can see the train was going by under a low winter sun. Being entirely backlit, the water sparkled and most of the scene was in monochrome.

Train over canal backlit, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, December 2024

Looking west around the same spot, I caught this interesting view of the mostly frozen canal and patches of snow along the embankments with reeds on the left. The ice colours are created with a mixture of dark magenta (PV55) and blue-green (PG7) which creates a metallic bluish grey. To that I daubed in sky blue and various browns and dark greens to give the mottled effect of frozen water reflecting some of the surrounding elements.

Freezing canal with reeds, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, December 2024

Here was the warm-up painting, done on the way downtown, I am standing just outside the Alexis Nihon mall looking east along Maisonneuve. Most of Montreal is in shadow especially with the sun being on such a low angle at this time of year. I was even standing in full shadow which makes the paint dry even slower than usual. Some people may wonder why I paint outdoors even in sub-zero temperatures, and so do I wonder why sometimes. The success rate on my paintings, if there is such a thing, is lower in the winter and at night. But I wonder if even that is just another obstacle. I thought about using glycerol to prevent the water from freezing, would it dry faster than the salt water?

Light and shadow along Maisonneuve, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, December 2024