In Toronto, the water is right there on the edge of town not far from the Union train station. The tall willow tree still had an intense yellow colour that I recreated with yellow ochre (PY43) and benzi yellow (PY154). There was a more complex shape and texture to the tree but the conditions were quite difficult and it was a feat just to come up with this painting considering the extreme wind and wind chill. I had brought some salt along which I tipped into the water and brought my gauntlet mitts along for the trip in case the weather was cold. The sun was shining through the clouds which brought a bit of warmth.
Harbour-front looking east, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, December 2024
There were numerous boats that looked like tourist boats or the ferry boats tied up to the harbour dock. In the background is the island where they have a small airport and a few houses. A plane flew by which would have been neat to include, but the sky was too moist and it was too cold to stand around waiting for it to dry. The reflection in the water was just like you see, because the sun was shining almost directly at me which created a glare.
Ferry boat Harbour, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, December 2024
Just outside of the station, before turning left to walk down to the harbour, I found this one tree, the sun was actually shining on it. The entirety of downtown Toronto is shrouded in shadows due to the veritable wall of condo skyscrapers they built in the area. The harbour dock was literally the only place I could find sun shining. If I were to paint again in Toronto, I would have to seek out the few places remaining where the sun shines. They call Toronto the big smoke, but nowadays they aught to call it the big shadow. And incidentally I saw a few bikes riding around, there was a nice path running east west along the harbour front road next to the train tracks.
Found tree, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, December 2024
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