Snow study on 5 x 7 Pastelbord
B&W photo
This scene really excited me! I loved the dark tree, open marsh with distant house and the snaking piece of light snow leading the eye into the middle of the picture plane! The color in the photo was almost non-existant. I envisioned using reds for the bushes and warmer earth tones for the grasses and played with a neutral color for the house that is lighter in value than the blue gray that it actually is. I also simplified the background. I will definitely do this in a larger format, no doubt refining the colors, which may be a bit bright. The shape of the board did not allow for the roundness of the tree, which I really like, so I will pay attention to that when selecting a surface on which to work–probably 11 x 14 or 16 x 20.
Thanks for the inspiration! I just finished digging out this morning from our latest snow, and I too some photos. Now, I must get to work on some snow studies.
You probably have too much snow! I find that when the ground is solid white, it’s not so interesting, unless there are great shadows on it. This has been a totally snowless winter in DC, the second in a row. I’m not complaining. But I love snow in fields where there are patches that form interesting patterns of light.
Here in Morgan Hill, CA it is not possible to do “snow studies” but when the hills turn gold in the late Spring and Summer I believe I can apply some of your lessons of “snow studies” to those golden hills.
We don’t have any snow here either! I had to go to Massachusetts to find some. And fortunately a lot has melted so there were interesting pieces of it. However, it’s really all about shapes of differing values. You folks in California are very fortunate when it comes to this, as far as I can see! Wish I could be there for a spring sometime.