Quick ride around a slushy NDG

As the temperatures start to creep up to zero (Celsius) and above, the giant mountains of snow are starting to melt along with all the sand and salt. Most of the bike path on Terrebonne street was clear today so I could get out to the east part of NDG no problem. This scene is looking west along Côte st Luc, the Domino's pizzeria is unseen, just off to the left. The sky went down real smooth here, although some parts of the tree got smeared a bit on the way home. As I painted, the sun came out briefly and illuminated the background buildings and some of the snow in the foreground. To make the snow highlights glow, I outlined the white parts with a very pale wash of orange-yellow (PY154 + PO62). Those are the pigment codes to keep track of which ones I used. 

Snowy View up Côte st Luc, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2025 (No. 4189b)

Not too far down the street is the shopping complex that is slated for demolition. Here, I show the front door of the dépanneur that I painted before. The snow was not blowing today so I could get in some more detail, the slushy dog was actually on the window to the left but I moved it to the window on the right to fit into the format. I really wanted to get the old remnants of the sign into the top of the painting, it is an empty light box with rusty parts. The posters on the front were of various Indian-style street foods. I got the brick and grouting colours right, the teal brick was with dark blue (PB60), blue-green (PG7) and phthalo blue (PB15). When it was mostly dry I overlaid the grout with yellow ochre (PY43) and a touch of orange (PO62). If I can catch this scene when the weather improves, i.e. spring before they demo it, the scene could be done with good detail on a 8 x 10" or perhaps a 9 x 12".

Demo Dép slushy, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, February 2025 (No. 4276b)

 

I've always wanted to paint this portable utility shed (that ironically never moves) out at the track in Confederation park, the building in the background is the st Luc high school. The colour you see on the screen is the exact shade of tomato-red that I saw on location, but in real life the painting is more of a tangerine red-orange. From experience, I know the scan when viewed on a monitor always changes the red-orange colours a quarter hue to the red direction. Making the adjustment on location, I could get an accurate digital image. I actually learned about this from painting pylons. Not many of those out yet, but sure to be once the snow melts!  

Tomato Trailer, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2025 (No. 4190a)