Painting Snow Scenes

Shari Blaukopf shares her tips and techniques for painting snow using watercolors

Shari Blaukopf shares her tips and techniques for painting snow using watercolors

Istudied graphic design at university and subsequently worked as an advertising art director, freelance designer and, most recently, as a graphic design teacher. But my first love has always been watercolor painting. I began painting in my early teens, exhibited for many years and then took a long break while my sons were growing up. I confess, it’s been a joy to rediscover what I fell in love with so many years ago. When you paint in watercolor, you’re always teetering on the edge of chaos, and that unpredictability is precisely what makes it so thrilling. I learn something every time I put my brush to paper. I was fortunate to learn from one of the great teachers of watercolor—edgar A. Whitney—and I continue to use his design approach for composition. My preferred method is to paint in plein air, but in Montreal, Canada, where I live, it’s cold for about five or six months of the year. When I have an hour or two to work in my sketchbook, I will paint from my car on all but the coldest days. But for larger watercolors I retreat to my studio, where it’s warm enough for the paint to dry, I can make a pot of tea and listen to music. In Montreal,

you have no choice but to embrace the varied seasons, and since I started painting snow scenes I’ve learned to love our long winters. In fact, when I know we’re about to welcome our first snowfall in November, I can hardly sleep in anticipation. Painting snow scenes offers a particular set of challenges. You want to capture the subtlety of the snow and incorporate enough detail to make the scene interesting. I save the white of the paper for the snow, and use the snow shadows as key compositional elements. Since I don’t use masking fluid, careful planning is essential. I always make a value sketch to plan the lights, darks and mid-tones. If I know where I’m going before I put brush to paper, then my painting is far more likely to remain fresh and spontaneous. With snow painting, it’s particularly important to think about the wetness of the paper and brush. If I want crisp shadows on snow, I work on dry paper. A fully loaded brush is critical because the shadows should be painted in one big, wet wash. I also think about the edges of the strokes as I paint. If I use a big mop brush on rough paper, I can paint a big area of wet wash that also has a textured edge that simulates the edge of the snowbanks. By contrast, if I paint on a grey day I’ll often use a wet-in-wet technique, thoroughly soaking the paper and then

towel drying the surface. The damp paper allows me to paint washes with soft edges that convey the quiet of an overcast winter day. After much trial and error, my favorite recipe for shadows on snow is cerulean blue, cobalt blue and a tiny touch of permanent alizarin crimson. I use a test sheet to make sure the color is just right before I paint. I often take photos while I’m walking my dog in the morning, and these serve as references for my winter paintings. How do I choose subjects? Most often it’s interesting shapes that arrest my eye—the way a shadow crosses the road, or how the snow has drifted on a bright red fire hydrant or on a car in a neighbor’s driveway. I’m always aware, of course, that photos don’t capture the scenes we see with our own eyes— darks lose their details and light areas often bleach out—so my photos are simply the starting point for what I hope will be a better design and composition. My large ipad sits on a book on my painting table so my reference image is readily available. Since winter landscapes are often very grey, I use a limited palette. I love to contrast warm and cool tones, so if the snow has blue/mauve shadows I will add orange or yellow tones in the trees or buildings. Two of my favorite grey mixes for winter scenes are made from Burnt Sienna and ultramarine blue or burnt umber and Prussian blue. With these I can mix neutral greys that can be warmed or cooled by adding more or less of the blue or brown. I also look for opportunities to add touches of pure color that enliven my winter paintings. That’s why street signs are so important to my urban scenes. At the end of the painting process, I sometimes find that I need little white highlights of snow on branches or rooflines. Using a fine brush, I dip the tip directly into a tiny tube of titanium white watercolor, and dot some full-strength white pigment onto my paper. Those dots of brightness add the final sparkle that tells me my painting is done.

Avenue Ste. Anne, watercolor, 15 x 11" (38 x 28 cm) On warmer winter days the melting snow produces stunning reflections in the road. I used a mix of Prussian blue and burnt umber to create a warm grey for the road and distant trees. Although neutral colors dominate, I found some opportunities to add spots of pure pigment, as in the road signs and trash bin.

Villeray Sous La Pluie, watercolor, 11 x 15" (28 x 38 cm) This was painted on a typically messy Montreal day when the snow starts off wet and later turns to rain. I painted from my car using a limited palette of mostly burnt sienna and ultramarine blue on Arches rough paper. The first few washes were painted with a very wet squirrel mop brush and as I gained detail I switched to a 1-inch flat for the bare trees and utility poles. A rigger brush was ideal for the fine wires and church details.

24th and St. Joseph, watercolor, 15 x 22" (38 x 56 cm) What captured my eye in this local scene was the curve in the road where the houses on the right side meet the ones on the left. I sketched this from my car and then returned to my studio to paint a larger format version on a half sheet of watercolor paper. The utility poles and wires are design elements I like to use to add rhythm and repetition.