Full moon and other night lights

Riding down Boulevard Decarie, there was a clear view of the full moon hanging high in the sky. On the sidewalk in front of a car dealership, a number of bright lights made for an interesting composition. At first glance you see a bunch of light sources each with a different shape and colour, then realize one of them is hanging in the sky! In the background is a view of Montreal, probably parts of Verdun on the horizon. As usual the paint froze on the paper leaving a distinct granular effect. 

Where's the moon? watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026

Speaking of bright lights, this scene, looking due south east, reminded me of that children's play-set called light bright. It is a black surface with peg holes, in which you insert coloured plastic pegs that light up when you turn on the light bulb. With all the traffic lights, car lights, house and street lights, it made for quite an effect. The rainbow looking thing is the Champlain bridge, the incoming traffic had white/yellow lights, and the outgoing traffic had red tail lights, while the bridge itself was illuminated in blue-green. I did a close up of the bridge at night last year, Night Sky Autoroute 15.  This is the kind of painting where you get into it, then wonder what you got into, there were tons of little details to fill in, all while standing next to my bike in frigid weather with cars and occasional people passing by. I hung in there, then had time to add the tree to the first painting, which took a long time to dry. Hopefully the winter painting is over soon, I am looking forward to some warm weather painting again.

Light bright, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026  

Heaps of snow parking lot

Down at the Provigo parking lot, also the Pharmaprix parking lot, there are enormous heaps of snow, several meters high. Filled with grit and sand, the snow is white, blue and dark brown with flecks of black and yellow. In the background you see part of the tall condo on the corner of Sherbrooke and Cavendish, and some of the housing along Sherbrooke. I cleaned the wooden racks and elastics with soap and water to prevent unsightly runoff into the edges of my paintings, which helped things stay cleaner here. It was frigid weather despite a nice blue sky. 

Heaps of snow parking lot, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Thawing ice on water effects

With much improved weather I made it down to the st Lawrence river in Old Montreal. Along the way there were police blockades along Maisonneuve with a large group of Iranian flag wavers yelling and chanting. The dramatic news of the day caused commotion, and its difficult for the Iranians in Montreal including all the students at the University. In the painting, I show some of the chunks of ice going down the river, with swirling, dark blue water all around. Its been awhile since the water has been visible. 

 Ice flows river, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2026 

Where the boats moor at the port, it seems like an ice breaker ship keeps a path clear. All around, the ice was melting and fragmenting into chunks. Apparently its set to freeze again for a few days which will make for a fine mess in Montreal. It may be tough or impossible to ride the bike tomorrow if all the snow melts then freezes. 

Cracked ice river, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2026 

At the end of the Lachine Canal there are a few holding areas where the tug boats used to park. One of them is still there, as a tourist attraction. I am looking along the edge of this basin, which is starting to melt and show the water. What ice is remaining has greyish yellow and blue green tints. That nice tree bark colour is raw umber (PBr7) with some burnt sienna (PR101). 

Partial melt canal end, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2026 

 

Day moon lamps Coffee Park

Over at Coffee Park I noticed the moon clearly visible during the late afternoon, hanging over the trees and commuter train tracks. Using artistic license I moved the moon down to fit on the page. The blue sky looks almost as if it were painted with cobalt blue, with that soft granular effect, but it is actually phthalo blue, which froze and formed crystallization patterns. A train rolled by, adding to a sombre atmosphere. 

Day moon commuter train, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2026

 

There are new lamps in Coffee Park, they also constructed a new community building and water park area last summer. I liked how the lamps looked like UFO ships, and how the yellow-orange contrasted with the cool blue and turquoise background elements. Despite waiting awhile for it to dry, the background remained stubbornly moist and made the trees blend in a bit. Anyways, the colours and textures are nice, and the walking path invites you to go for a stroll. 

Lamps Coffee Park, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2026 

Trenholme park snow sunset

After getting the LUFA farms vegetable pickup over in Trenholme park, I made a quick painting of the sunset reflecting off the snow and nearby cars. To create the red-orange glow of the sunset I mixed pyrol orange (PO73) and orange (PO62), but the real trick is to surround the orange tints in blue, brown and grey mixtures to make the contrast pop. I added trees and some other details afterwards. Most of the trees are dark brown, burnt umber (PBr7) and indo blue (PB60), with small branches at the top illuminated with yellow ochre (PY43) and orange. I added a patch of turquoise snow, and a dark purplish base to the buildings to give a cold feeling that was permeated by warm orange tones. Colours do not actually have temperature, its a myth, but still, I find the idea of warm/cool helpful in several respects. 

Trenholme park snow sunset, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2026

Empress Theater snowy night

Recently it was announced that the historic Empress Theater in NDG would be torn down, sort of. It seems they will attempt to preserve the facade with steel supports behind it, leaving an open park area where the theater was. Might as well tear down the whole thing if that's the idea, but hey, you gotta leave something for the graffiti (and watercolour) artists to paint! In this painting, I was standing across Sherbrooke street in a snow embankment next to the sidewalk, and did a painting of the left part of the facade with the fire escape, and a street lamp illuminating with an eerie glow. 

Empress fire escape, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2026 

Looking just to the right of the Empress theater, there are a few shops with bright neon signs and warm interior lighting cutting through a gloomy evening. With overcast skies on a winter night, it takes on a kind of greenish-grey glow with blue and orange tints. I ran the mixture off raw sienna (PBr7) and tinted with indo blue (PB60) and pyrol orange (PO73). Next time I will lean into the raw sienna-blue mix more, to get the greenish glow, which only comes out a little bit in this painting. That greenish grey sky colour is difficult, with a bit more tweaking maybe I can get it right. In 2023 I did a good night painting of a dépanneur with a greenish sky, you can see it in this blog.  

View next to Empress, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2026 

Chilly night paintings downtown

The half moon was hanging high in the sky over the Jacques Cartier Bridge. Actually, it was over my left shoulder, but it looked better to compose it this way. In the foreground is the highway that runs under the city, you can see the cars down on the roads from this vantage point, nearby where I painted on a sunny day last November. Since mayor before last decided to upgrade the lighting system on the Cartier bridge, its made for some neat paintings including these ones!

Half moon over bridge lights, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2026 

 

These paintings were too moist to add much detail, which explains the lack of a signature... I decided to leave them as is, no touch ups at home afterwards. Zooming in, you might see the crystalline textures that form when salty water freezes on location. Its not easy to get out of a warm couch under a blanket and decide to go for a bike ride with such wind chill at night, but its a neat thing that these paintings even exist now, I guess that's the reward of painting on location. This location is right next to the outdoor skating rink. 

Neon lights trees, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2026