Was it Sleet or Snow?

We were painting at a horse farm the other day and the wind blew in some pellets of white stuff.  But it was 3 degrees and sunny for the most part.  Yup the light violet pellets were cold and melted on the palette.  So you just know the most beautiful painting season is coming.  The tree structure is out there in plain view now.  The fields are ready for their winter coat, adding deeper russets golds and violets as they wait.

I had to do it.  From memory and some field sketches from Georgian Bay the following image came along.

New Steeps, 12x12, Oil on Gallery Canvas

Snow is an interesting study.  It is full of colour - never white.  Here I used cad yellow lemon and manganese violet for the main colour actors.  Bits of viridian, cad orange, and cobalt blue also found their way into the scene.  Dealing with shadows, glancing sun, bumps, and full sunlight with a myriad of colours in the sky is the challenge.  Get ready, its coming!