With February drawing to a close, I rode most of the way down to the Lachine canal after work, part of the path was too deep and I walked the bike. You can see the gantry crate to the back right, and the lamps that line the walking/cycling path. Other than one lonely watercolour painter there was nobody else down here. I added the tops of the trees and some of the lamp details at home when the painting had a chance to dry. The sky was nearly perfect, but a little drop hit the painting just above the crane, that's probably a tear from my eye, since the wind was blasting down the canal here.
Lamps and gantry crane near canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2025 (No. 4190b)
Both paintings were done simultaneously from the same spot so that I could get as much as possible done on location. This scene shows the snow mountain that forms each winter from the snow-removal trucks that dump here, very close to the Lachine canal. The shades of blue look just right... the sky was dark cyan, while the snow was a medium neutral blue. The painting shifted in the frame as I painted and so it came out crooked, but I adjusted it using Image J program. Painting at twilight is tricky, there is still enough light to see things, but the colours and values are hard to judge. The key is getting the value right on the sky, without messing up the hue. There is also a psychological barrier to overcome, as an artist, it just feels weird to paint at this time. When I first started painting on location I would only paint on nice sunny days! Now I paint on most days, in fact, this winter was probably the most productive of all time despite the intense cold, wind and snow we got.
Snow mountain canal, watercolour cold press, 5 x 7" February 2025 (No. 4280a)
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