Another year, another birthday.  What better way to spend it than painting.  The forecast was for warm balmy sunny weather.  Well, it was sunny Saturday morning.  I had already changed over to summer paints.  Randi kept me company painting her version of this scene - a ditch by the side of the road near Waldemar.

Happy Birthday, 10x12, Oil on Birch Board

The little stream kept a free flowing passage open in the sub zero weather.  The stream meandered behind bushes and trees to form a classical S.  The wind coupled with the wind made the cold difficult to bear given I had dressed for early summer.  I started with a quick wash of viridian and transparent red oxide, avoiding white at the beginning.  Then using the same brush and adding some ultramarine blue and alizarine I massed in the major colour shapes (5).  Next, the darkest dark and an indication of the tree and its buddies.  The rest was a series of adjustments on the colour shapes for variations of colours as they visible while thickening the paint.  The sky colours and the snow were placed last.

Three bristle brushes were used.  A #12, #10, and a #4 round.  The palette consisted of lemon yellow, viridian, ultramarine, alizarine and transparent red oxide.  The white was titanium oxide.  These paints were the thicker brands I use in the studio and during the summer plein air season.