"Silent and Peaceful"

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"There is nothing quite as silent and peaceful as snow falling." It is Christmas Eve and we rarely have snow in Austin so I decided to bring it visually. Hopefully, all of us can experience silence and peace as we reflect on the birth of Christ.

The reference photo for this piece was taken in Flagstaff, Az. The pictures I took that day are the only really good ones I have of snow falling and large trees gracing the landscape. It was quite a surprise the day we went through Flagstaff because we traveled from Sedona where it was sunny, cold, and clear to a virtual blizzard. These cities are only about 30 miles apart, but the elevation makes quite a difference.  

It is always a bit of a challenge to paint snow scenes and keep them interesting because there is so much "gray". I opted to lean my grays towards the purple side so I used Alizarin Crimson, Ult. Blue, and Cad. Yellow Light to create most of the grays in this landscape. The "grayed down" purple plus a lot of white created a soft lavender which gives a bit of life to the background. 

To create the falling snow, I used the old trick of diluting the paint (with medium and water) and splattered the piece with this mixture and a toothbrush. This technique accomplished the goal and brought back the only memory I have of Flagstaff and "near blizzard" conditions.

If you've never painted snow, it helps to know that it is much more than painting white out of the tube. That's generally considered a "no-no" and only whites with the tint of another color are used. Of course you can see that it looks like white, but the reality is that there are at least three or four different tints + white that created the snow. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Look and Compare"

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"Look and compare to move forward in life." Contrasting one thing with another is the way art gets created and the way wise living is achieved. Just by watching the disasters or successes of people's lives should show us which direction to go.

I decided to return to Texas today and paint a scene from Cow Creek Trail. It was created by painting a series of horizontal bands with variations and a few verticals. The diagonals are subtle, but they give life to the painting. And I am well aware that I've talked about diagonals day after day.

In observing what other artists create, the pieces that really "grab" me are the ones with a good number of diagonals. I think it's important enough to keep repeating until it sinks into all of our heads. Of course, if it is not done convincingly and sticks out like a sore thumb, that would completely defeat the purpose. So my encouragement is to look for those diagonals everywhere you go and in every thing you decide to paint.

The Texas landscape is a hugh learning curve mixing grays because we have a very neutral landscape most of the time. If you want warm grays...mix Ultramarine Blue + Cad. Yellow Light + Cad. Red Med. + White. If you want cooler grays...substitute Alizarin Crimson for Cad. Red. Med. I like to use both just to have a contrast between warm and cool. You will also see a lot of "grayed down" purple in those rocks.

And just in case you missed it...(because most water is blue), that is green water with reflections. I have so abstracted the scene that you might not be able to see it as clearly unless you look at it from a distance. But it looks remarkably convincing from across the room. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

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