Snow stop!

Just before the sun went down I made this painting of the auto shop, seemingly buried in snow. I was standing by a huge snow pile on the opposite corner, and almost just walked by since I was heading over to the grocery store to buy more salt. It was going to hurt, this one, with strong windchill barreling down Somerled, and just the thin glove on to get better brush control. At home while the painting was still moist I detailed a few areas, but most of it was completed on location using my shoulder bag (the bike is still stuck at work). 

Auto shop sun down, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

At the corner of the parking lot on campus there is an enormous 3 meter (12 feet) pile of snow that almost completely buried a stop sign. The facility building in the background was also covered in snow and icicles. Some passer-by stopped and chatted for a minute, He said, 'You're a good painter, you paint fast.' to which I replied 'I have to, its cold out!'  The joke of the painting is that it needs to stop snowing. But in fact Toronto area is getting a third snow storm soon, not sure about Montreal area, we have enough now. 

Stop! watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

Snow drifter, painting in the snow

Here is a scene in Coffee park looking east at the basketball net and train tracks in the middle ground. The trees were added afterwards when the painting had a chance to dry more at home. Since I could not use my bike, more on that later, I plopped the bike bag on a snow drift which was about the right height to access the paint gear. Behind me, was the new park structure which offered a bit of protection from the elements, namely the howling wind and blowing snow.

Basketball anyone? watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

Here is the similar location but standing on the other side of the structure looking west, straight into the sun and wind. I captured the snowy atmosphere by taking advantage of the fact that the paint will dry in a pale grey tone if it is moist... you see in the background it is a perfect misty tone signifying blowing snow and creating the illusion of depth. Some impressionist style brush strokes in the sky and on the snow create more atmosphere and sparkle effects. The stars of the show are the trees, the buried park benches, and the neat shadows cascading along the deep snow, it was over 1.5 meters in places. Unfortunately, my bike has been forcibly removed from action... although I made it to work without too much trouble, the bike lock has frozen up and I could not unlock it from the rack next to my office despite trying for like ten minutes. So as I type, my bike is still there. Hopefully it warms up a bit and I get my bike back. It wouldn't have mattered much since the roads were too snowy to ride home, I could have got partly down Terrebonne but Walkley is mostly buried. The snow removal people can not keep up with the snow everywhere which is understandable, most cities would be completely paralyzed with this much snow but Montreal, and its (one?) winter watercolour painter, soldiers on.

Winter drifts, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

Eye Storm

Just scrolling back on the blog and comparing this year to last year, its been a lot of location paintings without too many abstract or World Inspired Landscapes, or anything else for that matter. Each year I try to have a general goal, but nothing crossed my mind for this year other than keep on painting. For this painting, its an abstract 'palette cleanser' where I was trying to clean off the old palette that broke the other day on location, shattered actually, probably due to the temperature. But I got a good five years out of the palette, the fellow at the shop, Pierre from Avenue des Arts thought an ABS plastic palette would be better but they are too big and the wind blows them around on location. So I just bought a new palette for the summer time and will clear off the old one. Boring details aside, the painting was called 'Eye Storm' because I was going to call it 'Eye Store' like a play on the Apple I store, or the term 'Eye Sore', but with the snow storm I came up with Eye Storm. Like a storm of art in your eye. 

Eye Storm, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, February 2025

Blizzard!

Today was just like a nice summer's day... with a meter of snow and cold, gusty wind. To paint, I found some refuge under the large covered entrance to the local Benny library/cultural center but the snow was still blowing around and accumulating on the painting surface. I had to constantly blow the snow off and tap the painting on the wall to get the snow off it. Its amazing it turned out as well as it did. Trying to depict the reflection on the glass wall would have been tough in the best of conditions. I touched up the scene at home to complete some of the areas and add my initials. Tomorrow might be more interesting with enormous piles of snow, 2 meter drifts in places, although it is another day where Montrealers are being asked to stay home. Maybe I will walk instead of riding the bike tomorrow but who knows. So for any artists out there, there is no excuse to sit at home and paint in your studio when the whole world is out there waiting for you, sunshine or blizzard. 

Blizzard! watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2025

Dépanneur under snow, so Montreal

In st Pierre there is a Dépanneur I ride by all the time on the way to and from the Canal but never stopped to paint. With all the piles of snow it seemed the perfect Montreal scene: a Dépanneur still open and people going in and out between the wind-swept drifts. There was so much snow I did not need to use the kick-stand on the bike, I could just jam it in a snow bank and paint. I warmed up a bit doing this painting and could take my time with it, completing most of the scene on location. I added the brick texture and darkened some of the shadows at home afterwards. People must have wondered what the guy was doing making a  painting on a day like this! To make the snow shadows I used a mixture of phthalo blue (PB15) with a touch of magenta (PR122), then blended with a watery brush. Its a delicate technique to pull off under the circumstances. When I think back to the Montreal winter, this painting will come to mind.

Dépanneur 7 jours, under snow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2025

Piles of snow around Lachine

The part of the canal in front of Lachine is lined by trees and stone pillars that were nearly buried in snow today. And to think even more snow is on the way! Subtlety was the name of the game today, the scenery was monochrome and the sounds were of complete silence at times. To capture the canal, pale blue shadows were interleaved with some brownish-yellowish ice showing where the wind had blown the snow away at the bottom of the canal. A few sprigs in the foreground provided some colour.

Snowy trees canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

 

A bit further west, near the old fur trading post, this similar view had  more variety in the trees including pine trees and a willow tree. A few brush stroked were added at home to enhance the contrast and textures in the foreground. 

Trees around snowy canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2025 

 

The real snow birds, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

 Snow birds are people who live in Florida all winter, but these bird houses presumably were for the real snow birds. Maybe they were empty though. In the background is the st Lawrence river which had some visible water where it was flowing. I could not get very close to that part of the water because the path was completely snow covered and it had been a slog to get my bike this far. 

 

Turning up 18th avenue, I found this scene of some old fashioned houses covered in snow. The paint froze and dried pale, so I embellished the details at home. Victoria street had just been plowed clean so it made for a decent ride to and from Lachine. Its hard to get out here in the winter, especially if we get more snow tomorrow. I probably wont go back until Spring.

Houses in snow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2025 

Piles of snow everywhere

There were piles of snow everywhere including in front of the Dagwood's restaurant down the street. The sky was a crisp, clean cyan and blue, with bright light and luminous shadows underneath. I was so happy doing this painting that I cried, actually, that was due to the windchill on my face. Some of the details were added at home after it had a chance to dry. 

Dagwood's piles of snow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2025

The wind had carved out a curved shadow in the deep snow on campus. A picnic bench was mostly buried. For this scene, the sun was directly ahead which created a strong glare and backlighting. With a large open field in front of me, the wind was coming at full force so I had to hold on for this one. The results from this week were not quite what I had hoped for but in the winter one can only get so  much done. I will give it another good try tomorrow, there must be a classic winter painting waiting to happen, its fun trying anyways.

Curved snow shadow, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

Snowy day for some painting outside

There was a lot of hoopla today about staying home but the snow was not too bad after all, and Montreal was plowing and scraping all day. I got around by bike most of the time just a few spots where I had to haul the bike through snow piles. This scene shows two red cars under snow, and a bench, barely visible, also under snow at Trenholme park. The LUFA vegetables were late today so there was time for more paintings.

Two red cars under snow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2025

Here is a scene of West Broadway near my office, the red hydrant and cars were all covered in snow. I added the trees afterwards to all the paintings today since it would not dry on location, and there was snow coming down the whole time making the paintings a bit of a mess.

Hydrant snow day, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

 

On the right is the front bit of the De Chou restaurant, a Korean Asian fusion bistro with great food. Trenholme park is on the other side of Sherbrooke street. On a day like today, perhaps oil paints would have worked better, but I do like the rough finish of the winter watercolour paintings, it gives a real feel of a fresh dump of snow in Montreal.

De Chou restaurant snow, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

Pastel sun set, clean snow dirty snow

Looking for something to paint after work (that should be the title of a book!) I found another scene on the Cavendish overpass looking west. If you zoom in, you can see evidence of the ice crystals that formed in the sky as I painted. The focal point was really meant to be the amazing pastel colours in the sunset, which were captured with a variety of high quality paints that are on my palette such as benzi orange (PO62), red-orange (PO73), benzi yellow (PY154), magenta (PR122), phthalo blue (PB15 sapphire) and for the clouds, dark magenta (PV55) and dark blue (PB60). The trick is getting all the colours to blend together seamlessly without any backwashes or hard edges, which I managed to pull off here. The trees had to be added afterwards at home when the thing had a chance to dry.

Pastel sunset Cavendish overpass, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2025

 

Down in the parking lot of the Provigo on Sherbrooke and Cavendish, there was an enormous pile of dirty snow that you see in the foreground, while in the background was a few piles of clean snow. As with the last painting, the trees and some texturing, along with the window colours were added at home since the painting was very moist on location. I just wore the thin glove on the right hand to get better control, but that also limited the time I could spend on the painting. Normally I wear giant gauntlet mitts over top. Tomorrow is supposed to be some kind of sno-megeddan or snow tornado or something, it should be a good day to paint watercolours! Everyone is like wah wah stay home... hide in your condo, but I'm like, go make some paintings. Its never stopped me, for example the March 25th 2024 blizzard down by the river, The January 30th 2024 blizzard down in Dieppe park where the snow was blowing upwards, and the Febrary 27th 2021 snow storm that turned to rain ( I brought an umbrella) all come to mind. And the coldest ever location painting I did to date was -39℃ (-38.2℉), that is including the windchill, on February 3rd 2023. The paint was literally freezing solid on the palette, although my winter gear held up pretty good.

Clean snow dirty snow, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

Sun and Icicles

Its quiet here on the weekend, no commuter trains or millions of people around, just the sun going down over the snowy train tracks. The colours in the sky were amped up and feeling warm, which complemented well the curved red lamp posts. We had a lot of snow last Friday and it stuck around for awhile. Its been a good winter for painting, in this one I created the concentric colours around the sun using wet-in-wet with yellow, orange, red-orange, magenta, and blue. Judging the moisture levels is key, it keeps the colours blending together seamlessly without any back washes or hard edges.

Sun over snowy tracks, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2025

Going from warm to cool, here is a painting of a massive row of icicles on the eave of the Harley community center. I had been looking for a good icicle scene to paint for awhile now, and finally got the right angle and the right moment. In watercolour, you have to paint around the shape of the icicles, then gently fill in the details. Soft blending created the fluffy snow in the foreground, and impressionist-style brush strokes fill in the sky. In the background there is a very tall apartment building which provided a good contrast element for the icicles to stand out.

Icicles over eave, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

 

Ice flows on s Lawrence river, Dieppe park

Dieppe park is a peninsula they made to connect Ile st Helen with Montreal via the Confederation bridge. At the very end, there is a picture-perfect view of the Jacques Cartier bridge, I have painted here more times than I can remember now. On the right, the water is flowing fast in the direction of the bridge, on the left, the water is slow moving and swirling because it is the beginning of a large inlet. You can see in the painting I showed the ice and water flowing diagonally on the right, but more circular on the left. The bridge was painted with an economy of brush strokes, with umber for the bricks, green for the structure, and a few dark highlights for contrast. The big brick thing in the background of course is the Molson's Brewery which might be gone one day as they plan to move to south shore. On this day everything smelled of malted barley, the nearby Canadian Maltage factory must have been preparing a new batch.

Ice flow under Jacques Cartier bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2025

 

This painting was like a 'love letter' to Montreal. Sun in the sky, ice in the water, a boat in port, and a collage of buildings bunched together. The buildings in the painting are fairly accurate, in that I slowed down and tried to get each shape, colour and height about right. The windows are just decorative, don't forget I am wearing giant gauntlet mitts, like oven mitts, when I paint these in the winter! 

Sun over city with ice flow, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

You see the big Ferris wheel that operates all year around, and the dome of the Bonsecours  market across the river. I did this one really quick while the sky in the first painting of Cartier bridge dried out enough to paint the bridge over top. The ice flow was painted in a way that coveys motion, because these giant chunks were bumping and floating off into the river. When the ice chunk dips under the water it gets a yellowish-green appearance. It was quite a sight to behold. Well worth the slog to get down here by bike.

Ferris wheel ice flow, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

 

 

Chickadee and ice flow

After a tough slog getting my bike down to Dieppe park, at least it was sunny, I set up and began painting the ice flows of the st Lawrence river. To my surprise, a chickadee landed on the handle of my bike! It kept coming back, and even landed on the wood frame of my painting surface, I could feel its 3 ounces when it landed! It kind of looked at me. I tried to paint a decent image of it on my bike handle (wrapped in a blue fabric) but it was flitting about and wouldn't sit still. I had no bird seed to feed it. Reminds me of a painting I did with May flies on my bike, done out in Lachine park towards the end of the Pandemic. It was really neat today, being the only one here painting the ice flows and having these little birds all around. I made more paintings and will post them some time later, for now we have 'somebodies' 50-something birthday party to attend!

Chickadee and ice flow, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, February 2025

Peach and lilac sunset

Here is a view up West Broadway, there was a stunning peach and lilac sunset as seen from the spot where I lock my bike up outside of my office. It seemed like magenta, but on the horizon there was plenty of orange, which I made with PR122 and PO62 pigments. Those are two fine pigments if you ever get the chance to use them. Bright like crayons but smooth like butter. A little frosty with the wind chill. There was so much wind a piece of loose paper blew out of my saddle pack, luckily I could track it down in the snow before it blew away for good. The trees, cars and building details were added after the fact since there was no way I was going to stand out there for longer than necessary. Hopefully the weather is agreeable tomorrow, maybe I can get down to the river where the ice flows are seen. 

Peach and lilac sunset, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

Bus on Sherbrooke street winter night

Undaunted, I began this painting in a blizzard, standing under the eave of the sports building at the center of Trenholme park looking north towards Sherbrooke street. There was a surprising amount of colour for a dreary winter's night in Montreal, which I captured in the snow reflections, sky, bricks, and windows. I know this location so well I can really get it, like Cloud over Trenholme from last year. In this case, I could get the entire snow, sky, and windows completed in the bus and background apartments. To warm up and let the painting dry I popped into a local Korean-Japanese fusion restaurant and had the General Tao Bento Box, which is a tray full of delectable Asian foods with a chefs salad, followed by hot tea. Reinvigorated, I headed back out and completed the painting on location, although the snow had subsided some by now. So the entirety of the scene was done on location which was much more satisfying than completing the scene at home from memory. And if I ever sell this painting I will have to add $20 to cover the food bill!

Bus on Sherbrooke winter night, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2025

Painting in blizzard around town

One has to be really dedicated to their craft, or have a screw loose, or ideally both, in order to paint watercolours in a cold Canadian blizzard. This painting looked fantastic, a serene, colourful and visually stunning depiction of the campus quad (central area). Encrusted with snow, it turned into a watery mess upon drying, and voila, campus blizzard with lamp! I thought about touching it up at home, but in fact, its totally perfect as is, no doubt about there being a blizzard! I like how the light from the lamp almost seems to be blowing away in the wind.

Campus blizzard lamp, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

I knew the first painting would dry pale and grey, so for this one I picked a scene with maximum contrast, in the background there were powerful lamps over the skating rink in Trenholme park with a prominent tree in the foreground. With heavy dark mixes and lots of white spaces, I kept the paint together and even though it was encrusted with snow, it dried more effectively. I pre-loaded certain areas knowing the snow would melt and dilute it to create the glowing effects. Its next-level winter painting when one can predict how a frozen painting will look when it thaws out. And a good dose of luck helps too. 

Rink lights winter night, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

Commuter train last light

Looking for something to paint really fast after work, I found this scene along the train tracks of the commuter train travelling east in the last light. The setting sun made a neat amber glow on the snow and back of the train, along with the tree tops. In the foreground a fence was covered in hibernating vines. On location I managed to get the under-painting completed, then finished with the trees and detailing on the train at home when the painting had a chance to dry. I used this two-phase technique a few times lately due to the extreme cold. If it was a bit more pleasant I could do a second painting, let this dry, then come back to it, but there is the small matter of standing around at -25 Celsius for too long! I am really enjoying the cold though, its part of living in Canada and I prefer it over the steaming hot summers actually.  Mind you, spring time will be a welcome change.

Commuter train last light, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

Snow pile with shadows

The campus parking lot has an enormous pile of snow that was catching the last rays of sun, along with a half buried stop sign. On location I painted the snow pile by starting with a orange-yellow glow created with benzi orange (PO62) and benzi yellow (PY154). Benzi is short for benzimidozalone, the chemical name for this family of synthetic pigments. Then I applied the blue-violet shadows using blue and magenta (PB15, PR122), with a few dabs of the yellowish mixtures, and some dark brown for grit. At home, once the paint had dried, I finished with the details including trees, texturing on the snow, and the stop sign, along with my initials. It was far too cold and windy to wait for it to dry on location, it may have taken 30 minutes or more, and the sun was already down by the time I finished. 

Snow pile with shadows, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

Somerled mush

With all the snow, sand, and salt Somerled Avenue was a mushy mess today as depicted in the painting. These street panoramas are always tough to get right, the buildings have perspective and the distance between is more than it seems. By holding the paper up, and using the brush to gauge the angles, once can approximate things without too much trouble. The top line on the Metro grocer could have been angled a bit more now that I look at it. If the weather conditions improve I can get more detail in there. A scene like this, you just paint what you see. The grocery store used to be a Steinberg's.

Somerled mush, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

Blue sky frigid day for a bike ride

It was a frigid day for a bike ride with fierce wind but the sky was blue and the low winter sun was shining. On the way back I stopped at Peel Basin to make this painting of the frozen snow-covered water and multitude of condos in the background. I remembered the last time I was here I saw a fox and included it in the painting. Just as the thought crossed my mind, so did a fox cross through the scene and I captured its image in this painting. I had longer to study its shape and colour which allowed for a more realistic depiction. Maybe it just waits for someone to make a painting or take a photo before trotting by for posterity?

Peel basin fox return, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, February 2025

Up near the train tracks in the Mile End they sectioned off some empty lots and earmarked them for preservation. The forest is starting to grow back here, and just a walking trail cuts through. In the background is one of the many clothing manufacturing buildings that was transformed into condos. This used to be an industrial manufacturing area back in the hey day, now its a house farm. At least the city preserves what they can where they can.

Forest regeneration, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2025

A little further up the street there was a tent in the middle of the snowy forest. The whole scene was back-lit creating some interesting angled shadows and an intense glare. I managed to do the entirety of this painting on location which yielded a smooth consistent finish. In the previous painting, I had to let it dry and apply the trees at home so it looked a little more choppy. I prefer to finish painting on location but sometimes in the winter I have to pack it up and keep moving. It was definitely tough riding today, a good workout for sure.  

Tent in forest, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025

Path through snow on Campus

Just popping outside of my office in the late afternoon I made a quick painting of the path cutting through the deep snow. A rock and a few trees, along with one of the campus building in the background, completed the scene. The snow had a subtle glow of orange-yellow light from the right due to the setting sun, and a bluish shadow from the left and top. With all the salt they added to the path it was shimmering and moist looking. To get the nice pine tree green in the tree, I mixed shadow green (PBk31) with a heavy dose of yellow (PY154). Its tempting to use green paint to do a pine tree, but in fact these trees are more of a dark yellow, leaning to olive green. So shadow green plus yellow is the best option. Some 'blue pine' trees just require the shadow green alone, no yellow, with a bit of dilution with water. The path, by the way, is orange paint (PO62) with black paint (PBk6) and splashes of blue (PB15) and clear water.

Path through snow, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, January 2025

Benny Park snow covered grounds

With better conditions today I could make a few paintings out at Benny park before the sun went down. This one shows the copse (group) of trees on the hillside and the neat shadow they made on the snow. The tree colour is mostly shadow green (PBk31) and carbon black (PBk6). The shadow is phthalo blue (PB15) with magenta (PR122) and a touch of the green and brown paints where its darker. I used the hatch-mark style on the sky to prevent the paint from blurring together with the pine trees.

Pine trees shadow on hill, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, January 2025

Looking towards the sports complex I captured the side of the building, some more trees, and the snow embankment with dry grass and milkweed plants poking through. The milkweeds were neat, but I did not notice them soon enough. Next time I will go there and try to feature the milk weeds more. To capture the brick colour I mixed burnt sienna deep (PBr7, from Da Vinci company) with dark magenta (PV55), and a touch of indo blue or shadow green. It looks perfect here, a deep rich maroon/burgandy colour. For years I tried to get that brick colour correct and it was always tough. I know the actual pigment in the bricks is PR101 dark, sometimes called caput mortum which I have a tube of, but its not something I keep on the palette. The paint also dries too dull, the bricks have some kind of coating that makes them bright.

Sports complex and trees in snow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2025 

Painting in and out of a blizzard

The other day, I was musing about the difference of painting on location versus painting in a studio. On the way home last night I stopped under some lights to make a painting of the scenery, and it was snowing quite heavily. The snowflakes were large and wet, which ended up 'destroying' the painting and making the palette mushy and hard to control. Yet, now that I see it scanned, its pretty much exactly what I remember feeling at the time. Looking at it, there is no doubt about there being a blizzard!

In the blizzard, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, January 2025

Afterwards, I made a painting at home on the kitchen table, aka, my studio, and tried to make it exactly as I remember. This version captures the subtle variations in orange and blue of the snow, the delicate lilac sky, and the textured branches and window details. It looks exactly like what I saw on location. Yet, it fails to represent the feeling of the location painting. I think the best paintings capture both the look and the feel of the moment. At least these two paintings show the stylistic differences of location versus studio painting.

Out of the blizzard, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, January 2025

Snowy day paintings

A thick layer of snow came down last night, resulting in some neat formations around this rock in Coffee Park. Some people walked by and commented about how 'that guy is making art' and I think took a picture of me. Not many painters go out in the winter. I started winter painting around the end of 1995, which was the first year I started painting on location. Back then I added alcohol to the water but it was ineffective, so I had to just paint fast instead. Now with the right amount of salt, the paint flows well enough although the colours dull slightly. I like the swirl of shadow around the rock, its very Van Gogh-like. I wanted to contrast the heavy solid, warm rock with the fluffy cold snow.

Rock in snow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2025
 

In the background the commuter train went by and I made a quick painting. Since it was drying so slow, I actually made the other painting of the rock, then finished this one. Even so, the trees and the windows blurred into the background. You still get the idea though. Some artists prefer to take photos and work at home, which is a valid approach, however its just not for me. When on location its about the full immersion, the sounds, the smells, the physical feeling (like cold), and not to mention the visual information is much richer in real life than in a photo. The last time I painted from photos on a regular basis was from around 1990 - 1994 before I started location painting. After that, I occasionally use a photo for special projects, but otherwise much prefer outdoor painting. Indoors, I primarily do abstracts and imaginary painting like the World Inspired Landscapes series.

Train snowy day, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, January 2025

Long shadows on the snow

 As the sun went down in nearby Loyola park, the trees cast long blue shadows on the snow. The blue, of course, is reflected from the sky and only visible in the shadows where there is no white light. The rest of the snow was sparkling white with warm colours and pock marked with shadows where people and dogs have walked and left footprints. The trees were painted over top with yellow ochre (PY43) and umber (PBr7). The sky was done using a blend of blue and green phthalo pigments (PB15, PG7), its something I practiced a lot since 2020. Phthalo is short for phthaloyanine, which is the chemical name of the class of pigments.

Tree shadows on snow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2025

The last of the sun was catching the tops of these two massive cedar trees, with a park bench in the foreground. To get the colours correct on the tree, the tops were done with a heavy blend of yellow (PY154) orange-yellow (PY110) and a touch of green (PG36). The lower portion was a thick red-orange (PO36) with the dark shadow green (PBk31). Yellow ochre and phthalo green provided some highlights here and there. It sounds like a lot of pigments, basically, I use about four or five paints to make nearly any shade of green. I avoid 'convenience' greens where the company pre-mixes pigments since they are hard to adjust predictably. The turquoise in the train yard painting I did yesterday, on the side of the train, was also a phthalo mix, it was the best I have managed to get the turquoise which is a tough one.

Cedars and bench, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, January 2025

More scenes from Point st Charles

Standing on one of the paths overlooking Point st Charles, I did a painting of the rooftops and trees. It was very quiet here, just the occasional train rumbling by off in the distance. The main thing with a painting like this is to maintain the white snow-covered roofs, then fill in the areas around them. As it nearly dried I applied the trees, but the right side got smeared despite the use of the drying rack. Anyways, you definitely get the feel of a snowy cold, grey and brown day in the neighborhood.

Rooftops and trees, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, January 2025

Towards the south edge of the neighborhood there is another elevated berm with a path on it, it is the same location that I painted the train yard (previous blog). You can see the construction pylon, they are still working, and I have a feeling many more condos will be going up around here. To the left you see a sliver of the train tracks. The sky effect is done with a yellow circle around white space, then orange, magenta, and dull purple. A few streaks of orange-yellow give the clouds a glowing appearance. Luckily it dried well enough and I could overlay the lamps and trees.

New path sun glow, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, January 2025

A passenger VIA train went by as I painted this scene of Montreal. Its probably one of the trains I have taken in the past on a trip to Toronto. Tracks criss-crossed the foreground. In the middle are the stacks of colourful container cars. I could go here a dozen times and come away with a different painting. I did a few here last year like Seven Trains. 

Montreal skyline and trains, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2025

Train yard on a weekend

Point st Charles is towards the east end of Verdun, it fills up the space between the highway and the Lachine Canal, with st Lawrence river unseen to the south. For awhile now, the city has been renovating the neighborhood with new roads, bike paths, sidewalks, and affordable housing developments. A walking path was built up on a berm overlooking the train yard, there is a tall fence in the scene that I omitted. These appear to be commuter trains, and also the VIA passenger trains that we sometimes take to Toronto. In the distance is the elevated commuter train and a few condos. The painting might look simple enough, but it was a huge challenge given the conditions. A fierce wind was barreling down from the west and the temperature seemed to plummet as the sun went behind clouds. I must have lost half a liter of water through tears and runny nose, and the paper kept going off center. I did another painting while this one was half done in order to let the paint dry a bit. Whoever said painting is relaxing probably never painted before. But I am glad to have hung in, it would also be a perfect Spring/Summer location there are views on all sides here.

Train yard weekend,  watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, January 2025

Blue shadows, post snow-day

Snow days were always the best as a kid... no school, play in the snow all day instead! It snowed all night, and during the day it was a nice blue sky and sunny. I managed to squeeze in a few after work and before the sun went down, which is later and later these days. Here is Raffi Auto shop with some snow-covered parked cars and piles of car parts. The trail in the front is where they drive cars into the repair area.

Raffi under snow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2025

Across the street on Harley, these tall apartment buildings cast long blue shadows over the parking lot. Most of the cars had this blue-violet colour, as did the snow. Buildings on the opposite were still catching some of the low winter sun.

Parking lot blue, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, January 2025

 

At Coffee Park, this curved black iron fence was casting an interesting shadow on the snow and up the embankment. Trees and grassy remnants completed the scene. In the background behind the trees is Coffee street. I tried to get a good angle on the new structure they completed in the park, but it seems to have been designed to thwart artists; its a complex poly-rectangle shape with odd angles. Maybe in the summer it would be good.

Curved fence with shadow, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, January 2025