I should have gone to my Pencil Portraits class . . . but it was raining and cold and it’s outdoors. I’m a wuss, enjoying snow and ice from a distance. Thus, biting cold, frost, and snow fog. Wander along the road, beneath the trees, and remain in my snug house with a cup of cocoa and blues a-playing in the background. Not a rough life.
For some reason the winter and snow scenes of Maurice Utrillo were wandering through my mind when I was painting this. Yes, he painted urban winter scenes, but I don’t think that really matters. What I saw here was the brushwork, a scumbling to blend colors, which I think of when I see his paintings.
Initially my idea was to attempt a pointillistic painting, but the subject matter really doesn’t lend itself to dots. What I did was to lay down dots, as in pointillism, and then work them into each other for color gradation, textures, and mood.
If I am to be honest, I am really pleased with this painting! I hope you enjoy it, too.
Another winter day . . . snow, sunrise, warm and cold. Pointillism once more.
This time I laid in the background color, such as the blue of the sky merging into the gold of the horizon, blending them together with white. the same with the diagonal hedgerow and foreground snow. After that, I used a tiny, tiny brush, soft to the touch, and filled it with gouache paint I thinned down a lot.
The time to complete this painting was easily 2-3 hours (with time out for lunch and a nap, of course!). I think the color gradation, especially in the sky, has worked well with the usage of small points of color. I also tried to make the middle ground snow cooler and greyer than the foreground snow.
Ahhhh! It feels so good to paint!
I try to paint every day, and in general, I seem to accomplish this. I have been working mostly in gouache and watercolor. There are times when I make studies – try to copy – the works of people I admire, or do an exercise in a “how to” art book. You learn from both. Other times, I just make something up or interpret something I have seen. Landscapes are always my favorite subject. These are some of the things I have done over the last two months, not in any particular order.
How many times I have driven through the wild country of the US, stopped on the roadside just to gaze at the land around me? When I lived in Colorado, I did this whenever I could. I do it here, too, in California, and whenever we take a driving trip through wild and lonesome country. Life here can be harsh and isolated, but can you imagine yourself on horseback (I do!) and slowly traversing these wild and open places?
More winter, more gouache. A limited palette of white, phthalo blue and green, ultramarine blue, a bit of red, and black and purple.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 