Tag: winter

Trees in Snow

This was an exceedingly hard painting to scan simply because of the very soft usage of blue in the foreground snow. While this scan does not represent the painting very well, the overall image is good enough unless I decided to really play with my scanner’s software. I am not so sure I want to do that.

There are a few “points” to this painting. Using a very limited palette was one point – colors here are ultramarine blue, burnt umber, burnt sienna. There is a touch of a few other colors here but nothing of any significance.

Another point is to keep as much of the paper as white as possible. I managed to do this, but the scan does not do justice to the pale blue of the foreground snow; to compensate for this I used a very light blue graduated filter overlay in my post production software.

And the final point was to work in layers – light to dark – for the trees. Yes, I used titanium white artist’s gouache for the snow on the branches.

St. Cuthberts Mill, Bockingford archival watercolor paper, 12×16, CP 140#.

Snowfall

Christmas Day! Nothing like a snowfall and the cold and the quiet of the woods for remembering the magic of the season. New and old traditions overlap, memories and hopes for the future all seem to be rolled into the end of the year and depth of winter. The stillness of the winter woods gives pause to our crazy lives. Holidays of any sort at this time of the year make us look backward as well as forward.

Here I worked from very light to dark. The colors I used for the greenish-blue sky were cobalt teal, a bit of ultramarine, and a touch of Hooker’s green, neutralized by a bit of alizarin. The leaves and autumnal foliage were various siennas and orange with a touch of Indian yellow. Trunks, from light to dark, were essentially ultramarine with burnt sienna and raw umber with a bit of Payne’s grey. Snow shadows were ultramarine and Payne’s grey. Finally, I watered down some titanium white gouache and tapped my brush across my forefinger to look like falling snow after applying a few lines and dots in white here and there.

This is another watercolor which pleases me. Perhaps I should stick to Arches Rough paper instead of my usual cold press . . . ?

Have a wonderful Christmas Day – or whatever it is you celebrate!

Watercolor, Arches Rough 140# paper, 10×14.

Later in the Day

A few days before Christmas and, while I don’t live in it, I do enjoy a snowy holiday! I’ve always thought that a walk in the woods, in the snow, on a misty but sunny day is the best way to enjoy the cold. Colors are soft in the distance. The contrast of bright white against dark branches and trunks is fascinating, creating twisty patterns on the intertwined branches of bushes and young trees devoid of leaves. There are lines and blobs, shades of blue and grey snow, bright white and deep shadow.

I used a limited palette here – mostly umbers, sienna, some yellow, blues. A touch of alizarin, too, to make some warmth. One of the goals of this painting was to create a soft view of buildings in the distance, suggestive of a misty sunniness. The pale blue of the sky is barely there. I used a lot of water for this effect! Coming closer to the viewer, colors are a bit brighter and shapes more evident. In the woods, sharp trees, shadows, snow, plants.

To date, I think this is one of my better watercolors.

Watercolor, Arches rough 140# paper, 10×14.

Winter Water

Having used a lot of gouache colors in my palette, this is a deliberate effort to see how I can make a primarily white painting. Snow, of course, is the best subject.

The two whites available for gouache are zinc white and titanium white. Zinc white is more transparent and works very well with colors to lighten them. It is not as bright as titanium white. Titanium white is more dense and opaque, and works very well for areas you want to be very white – such as white caps on waves and here very bright areas of snow.

Besides the two whites, I kept my palette limited to most ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, yellow ochre. A touch here and there included some orange, yellow, and umber to mix colors I needed.

Strathmore Vision CP 140# watercolor paper; gouache; 9×12.

Winter Valley

Today I thought I would be a bit self-disciplined and work with only two colors to create a winter landscape. I used MaimeriBlu’s “Faience Blue” and somebody’s artist quality Burnt Umber. Add to that, as needed, some white gouache.

I have never used MaimeriBlu paints, much less Faience Blue. This blue seems a bit of a cold one, which is perfect for a winter day. The Burnt Umber, mixed with the blue, produces a nice dark as well as plays into the coldness I am trying to express.

The first part of the painting was done with the sky – start at the top and work down. This is pure color, diluted, to create a sky. First the paper in the area of the sky was wet, and then the blue brushed in. Before the paper dried I lifted out the color.

Next I painted the distant hills and background area, solid in color, but varying the intensity of the colors and mixes of brown and blue. I painted through where the trees in the mid-ground would be as I knew the tree branches would be a bit darker once painted. Next came the trees in the foreground right and shrubs and grasses on the left as well as under the trees. All dried with the hair dryer. The middles areas were done after these dried.

Finally, the snow was tinted with blue in varying strength, bits of grasses, and final details. The snow on the trees was done with white gouache, as in the front left shrubs. Once the gouache dried, a mix of blue and brown was glazed over it to tone it down. Finally, a light wash was put into give a sense of dimension to the snow.

In the end, I am rather pleased with this painting. Using triads made me recall some other watercolor exercises I have done with limited palettes of color. The cold is much to my liking as is the complexity of the foreground giving way to simpler forms in the distance.

Arches 140# CP paper, MaimeriBlu “Faience Blue” and Burnt Umber. 10×14 inches.