Painting Snow...

I was recently emailed asking for advice on painting snow. So I decided to post my response here, since this is something I’ve been thinking about lately as I paint outside.The image above is from last winter, and is mostly the side of a white house, but the ideas are all the same. The painting above is 30×40″.

As for painting snow… as always, paint what you see. The most helpful hints are probably things that will help you notice certain light/color effects. Once you notice them, you can try to paint them. First of all, snow isn’t white. It’s many colors. Snow can reflect the blue sky at mid day or a yellow sky in the evening. Snow can reflect the color of a nearby building. Snow on the roof of a building will be a different color than the snow on the ground in front of that building. On the roof the snow may be angled to reflect more of the sky color, or less. There may be a tree somewhere changing the amount of light that hits the snow. Snow is a great equalizer in the landscape. In a field of grass there are variations in how the light hits different parts, but there is also a change in how the local color of the grass… some will be greener than others, some may go a bit browner. With snow, however, the whiteness of the snow should be pretty uniform, so you are really getting a chance to study how light is working its way across the landscape. Yesterday I painted a white building in a field of snow, and it was amazing to try to figure out which way the different whites were leaning in hue and value.

For practical tips, I would say to be very careful to look at where the whitest white is. Note that spot, and then look at how much darker in tone different parts of the snow are in comparison. Try to notice if the whitest white is even pure white. It might not be. Painting a snowy field can be like a study in subtle shifts of grays. As important as tone is for getting a sense of light, you should also look for a temperature shift. These tone and color shifts are all exaggerated when you look into the sun and a snow covered trail, path, tree or building is backlit. These things are less obvious when the sun is at your back. Most importantly, paint what you see. And if the painting isn’t working, compare it to what you see happening in nature.

Snow in Maine...

The last few days I’ve managed to get outside and do a little bit of painting. Nothing too ambitious, but I’ve been able to manage some small paintings despite the cold. We got a lot of snow over the last week, and it’s been really fun to watch it come down and tuck all of the houses in. There’s something oddly comforting about piles of snow gathered up around a home. The painting above was done on Seven Tree Pond before the snow, when the lake was frozen over, except for a slice of exposed water off in the distance. The day was mostly overcast, but when I painted this, at noon, there was a bit of sky with sunset colors. It was very odd for the middle of the day.

I’ll try to put together some photos of these winter paintings. It’s been a lot of fun focusing on colorful greys and whites.

Also, I was featured in a blog, Judson’s Plein Air Journal, a few days ago. This looks like a great site to look for plein air gear. I’ve just been browsing around. I like looking for new toys, or better ideas for my plein air set up.

Workshop Schedule...

The opening reception yesterday at the Camden Library exhibition went very well. I appreciate the effort everyone made to come out to the show.

For those of you interested in learning about this year’s workshops, here’s what I have planned so far. This year I am only teaching 3 workshops. Last year these classes all filled up pretty quickly, so if you are interested in one of these classes you may want to get in touch with the organizers soon.

May 8-9 at River Arts

and

June 12-13 at River Arts

Damariscotta, Maine

207 563 1507

Sept 13-17 Coastal Maine Art Workshops

Rockland, Maine

207 594 4813

In these workshops we’ll be working on fundamentals of good picture making, focusing on painting the landscape outdoors in oils. There is a great amount of value in painting from nature. I’ll use demos and one on one time with students to teach about paint handling, composition, color, drawing, and how to look more carefully.

If you have any questions about the class feel free to get in touch with me. If you want to sign up for a class, call or email the organizer directly.

Images from Camden Library...

I have a few more images of paintings that are in the Camden Library show, which has a reception this Saturday from 3-5pm. These images are all 8×10″ oil paintings on linen panels.

This show consists of paintings done around Camden, Maine this past fall. If you are in town it’s worth a visit. Yesterday I stopped in to see it and was really pleased with how the pieces look together.

I really enjoyed working on these small panels and playing with some more adventurous color in some pieces. At this scale the brushwork was also fun to experiment with. I tried to get a variety in detail, thickness of paint, width of brushes, and expressive strokes.

Camden Paintings...

This weekend at the Camden Public Library there is a reception for a show of my paintings; Saturday, January16 from 3-5pm. The Dowling Walsh Gallery put this show together as a fundraiser for the library. All of the paintings on display were created around the town of Camden, ME. It was a fun project to focus on one town, painting all of the different aspects of that place. Many of these paintings are smaller paintings at 8×10″. The show is already hanging, so if you are in Camden stop by and check out the show.

Also, I have been reading a great book:

This book consists of interviews with many artists in their studios. Much of the discussion is about the practicalities of being an artist; how the studio is set up, how the studio is used, how the artist makes a living. It’s really interesting to hear from these painters about the real life of making art. There are some common themes that are fun to note, and there are some contradictions that might be more fun to notice.  If you get a chance you should pick this book up, Inside the Painters Studio written by Joe Fig.

Ready to Paint...

I just returned from my holiday trip to Puerto Rico. It was great being there, and then beautiful coming home to so much snow on the ground. The painting above was done when I got back from my last trip. It’s a little study that I did from photos. I’m trying to get my mind wrapped around the stronger color I’ll be seeing in Hawaii when I go there next month for a plein air festival. I kept seeing these great scenes in Puerto Rico that gave me some ideas for paintings when I get to Maui.

I’ve been going to Perto Rico for years and I’ve never brought oil paints with me. I’ve played with watercolor and done a little drawing, but I’ve never tried oils. I know it would be fun to paint such a different landscape, but I’ve always wanted these trips to be real vacations where I couldn’t get wrapped up in the pressure of wanting to paint. Recently I’ve been thinking more and more about working on some plein air sketches when I make the trip, but I hesitate to take away the great relaxation of no work hanging over my head. I love painting, so it’s not like the painting will be unpleasant. The problem is that I will just constantly be thinking about it, and wanting to get back behind my easel instead of relaxing with a book. Instead of having cocktails at sunset with my family I’ll think I should be painting. I think I might bring my easel down on my next trip and just see how it goes, but part of me likes having a sepperate world to go visit and truly relax.

Happy new year to all of you and I hope you had a great time over the holidays.