Taking advantage of the light snow and (mostly) plowed bike paths, I made it down to Peel Basin for some painting. Approaching the basin, it occured to me that this is one of the best places in Canada to make paintings, it has it all, trees, water, old bricks and stones, condos,great sightlines, and plenty of spots to set up and paint. A couple of tents were set up among the trees in the foreground, with the canal and commuter train overpass in the middle ground, and the wall of condos in the background. There was an obvious contrast here in what were probably shelters for homeless people adjacent to the expensive Griffintown condos in the background. At first I was freezing, but felt quite warm as I painted, maybe the sun was providing a bit of heat before it went down for the day. Its very peaceful in the winter, just the occasional train rumbling by in the distance.
Tents by canal winter, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, January 2025
The fresh snow on the canal shimmered with various pastel tints, and the reeds were a warm toasty yellow. Providing the contrast was the iconic black fence rails that line much of the canal. Painting the snow tints required careful brush strokes full of dilute pastel yellow, blue, and violet. The sky was done with impressionist brush strokes to avoid a large wet wash, and because it looks nice and wintery this way. I touched up the fencing, reeds, and my initials at home since it all dried a little flat which tends to happen when using salty water in the winter. There was a bitterly cold west wind, but I was facing east here, and the sun was on the perfect angle. Not many people out today, just a few intrepid joggers, cyclists and dog walkers.
Snow on canal green buoy, watercolour 5 x 7.5" cold press, January 2025
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