Seeing the Snow

Snow is an interesting study.  It is anything but white.  You find this out when you paint on site and train your eye to see - not to see what you have been conditioned to think.  You know, sky - blue, grass - green, snow - white.

Here is a recent winter painting.

With a New Eye, 11x14, Oil on Canvas

When I am painting with students who plaster the white on, I get them to take a piece of white paper and put it out in the subject area.

White paper added

This is usually quite a revelation.  Then, what colour is it?  More appropriately what value is it?  Then, how to see it, how to mix it, and how to apply it?  I'll look at these questions just as winter is slipping away.