DISAPPEARING LANGLEY: A DUSTING OF SNOW

Drawing

Reference photo for subject

Reference for snow

I mask out areas that have a bit of snow on the surface, then just start in, working mostly wet on dry as the areas to be painted are quite small and not too conducive to wet-in-wet. 

Again, I am using my favourite triad of quin. burnt orange, quin. violet and indanthrone.

And as usual, I give little thought to a background till the subject is well under way [NOT a great method, but it's me]. I decide to put in a wintery morning sky, and lay in a w/w graded wash of aureolin. I let it dry, then do another graded wash of grey [perm. rose, aureolin and cobalt blue] on the sky. I also wash on a thin application of the grey on the unmasked snow, to make the white on the wagon stand out.

It still looks too empty, so I put in a line of trees over the rise.  To get a more natural look, I use a sponge evenly along the edge of the hill and randomly above. I then quickly drop in a pre-mixed dull green [quin. gold and indanthrone], starting at the bottom and letting it flow upwards into the sponged areas. It still looks rather bleak and miserable, but that's how I feel about winter, and also how I feel about what is happening where I live. Here in south Langley, we are being "invaded" by real estate developers and speculators, and I truly fear for the continuance of this incredibly beautiful rural, agricultural area!

Thank you so much for dropping by!