Sun down, night downtown Montreal

I was downtown after work before the sun went down, and before the rain started at Ernest Cormier Esplanade park which is near the autoroute, Fort street, and across from the Canadian Architecture center. This scene is looking north at a gloomy sky, done wet-in-wet with a variety of purple, orange, and cyan tints. 

Gloomy sky downtown, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

Still in the park, same spot but looking east, I did a painting of a tree with traffic in the background. Painting in these conditions is tough because of the moisture and lack of sun, although it wasn't raining yet. 

Wide tree traffic, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

With construction on st Catherine I had a good place to stand with my bike and paint this scene on the corner of st Marc. Its Chef Lee noodles, although I changed the sign to my initials. Still added bienvenue (welcome) to appease the language-sign police, thanks Robert Bourassa. 

Cheff Lee evening, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

With night upon us, I headed over to the Dollarama area across from Cabot square, because there is bright light here from the store, and an overhang to block rain, which had picked up. A lot of people were talking to me, it must be the glasses making me seem more approachable! To do such paintings, I first apply the bright colours, then work through the washes and texturing. I actually painted this one and the next one simultaneously, which is a trick I learned for winter painting.  

Cabot square Dollarama bus, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

I established the background of the other painting, then this painting, then went back and forth as they dried. In fact, neither one dried properly on location, so I had to arrange them in my bike bag to dry without smudging. Its time to start brining my wood drying racks on locations, which are needed when moisture is high, or winter. The scene by the way is Cabot square, looking south towards one of the newer condo towers they built. 

watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026