"Fresh Snow" (oil on linen; 9" x 12") sold

"Fresh Snow"
sold

"Winter Morning" (oil, 9" x 12")
sold

As you know, I have painted quite a few snowscapes since last fall.  I am pretty much out of the snow reference material in this exceptionally mild, snowless winter.  Out of desperation, I dug out a photo I had used for "Winter Morning," and came up with a new painting, titled "Fresh Snow."  Cheeky!

I remember how pleased I was with the first version.  Now I look at it, I am not impressed at all.  Look at the reflections of the trees.  Don't you think they look anemic?  And what about the treatment of the distant woods?  Half-hearted, I say.  I admit that there is that ineffable softness in the old painting.  Nonetheless, I vote for the new one.  What do you think?

"Central Park Snowed In" (oil on linen; 10" x 12") sold

"Central Park Snowed In"
sold

"Snow Trees" (oil, 8" x 12")
sold

"Snow Creek" (oil, 9" x 12")
sold

As you can see, I have a mini series going on here--snowscape with trees and creek/pond.  If I paint the same scene over and over again, I will die of boredom and atrophy.  But as I continue to explore the same theme with variations, I gain a deeper understanding of the theme.  In "Snow Creek," I learned how the smaller area of the sun-lit snow seems to glow next to the much larger one of the snow in shadow. 

In "Snow Trees," I grouped the sun-lit and shadowed areas and assigned them the two separate sections in the picture plane.  I played around by intensifying the blues of the creek, to contrast them with the warm colors of the trees.  But my main concern and fun was to figure out how to paint wet snow clinging to trees.

In the first painting of the new year, painted on the New Year's Day--"Central Park Snowed In--" I am back to the meandering stream and snow-coated trees.  I am also contrasting a small sun-lit area with the rest of the snow-covered pond at Central Park, which is in shadow.  I have become more ambitious, introducing the background, which is very different from the rest of the painting and works as the foil for it: the blurred skyline of Manhattan.  I was also trying to vary the tones in the foreground to indicate different states of moisture from snow to ice (darker) to water (darkest).

Painting these small "daily" paintings has been a great tool for self-education and growth for an amateur-turned professional artist, which is who I am.  Last year I retired from teaching history at a college, something I had been doing over twenty years, and began with much trepidation the adventure of a self-employed , starving artist.  One doesn't get younger.  It was now or never to do something I truly wanted.  Wish me luck!

"Silent Night" (oil on linen; 10" x 12") sold

"Silent Night"
sold

"Snow Valley" (oil; 10" x 15")
sold

Snowscape is another favorite subject of mine.  So much so that, I am in danger of running out of my reference material for snow paintings, as I live in an area that doesn't get much snow.  Of the two latest snowscapes, I like "Silent Night" better.  Snow is inherently a cold matter.  Unless much care is taken, a snow painting will be too cold to look at.  I thought that the warm-toned clouds in "Snow Valley" will balance out the cool colors in the rest of the painting.  But, over all, it feels too icy for comfort.

So I am going back to painting snow scenes in early morning or late afternoon light.  Sunset is even better.  Snow reflects everything around it and, of course, the ambient light. The brilliant colors in the sunset sky seem to bring out the best in snow.  If only it would snow!

"Winter Creek" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

"Winter Creek"
sold

"Winter Morning" (oil, 9" x 12")
sold

Both paintings above are based on the pictures I took many winters ago down the street along Holmes Run in Alexandria, VA.  We don't usually get much snow in northern Virginia.  So whenever there is a bit of snowfall, it is a snow day and everybody is happy.  I am from a country (South Korea) that gets lots of snow every year.  I've got to see snow in winter; otherwise, I feel deprived.

And I love to paint snowscapes.  Although it gives local residents much pleasure, Holmes Run is a small creek, not a particularly scenic one at that.  But look at my paintings!  It's the snow that transformed an ordinary creek into a winter wonderland.  No omnipresent, oppressive greens as leaves had fallen.  White snow, which has hints of the sun's warmth, makes big bold shapes or sparkling, lacy tendrils.  The creek with wonderfully fuzzy reflections of bare trees on the opposite bank is a bonus, which provides a nice dark shape in the middle ground.  I hope we get some nice snow this winter, not just dustings.