Winter - I love it!

A little cross country, downhill ski on the Family Day long weekend

I am an unashamed lover of winter and snow!  I grew up relishing those cancelled school days when it dropped below -35 and we would go outside to play.  We cross country skied, tobogganed, ice fished, curled, skated on ponds & outdoor rinks and pretty much enjoyed any winter activity available.  If you are going to live in a cold climate you MUST dress properly and get out and enjoy it or it could be a LONG six months of darkness for you.  

Right now I am enjoying attempting to paint various scenes that have snow, the most challenging for me being the partially snow covered coniferous trees.  Have a Google of  Lawren Harris' fabulous winter trees or check out Clarence Gagnon's cozy, nostalgic scenes of Quebec in winter - beautiful!

A bright, sunny winter's day provides the best shadows and highlights imaginable for painting.  I am attempting another one today of a buried camper van, waiting for spring to return.

Day 21

8x8 oil on canvas - last run

Trying to catch some more shadow colour on the snow, from a photo of a late afternoon run in Jasper.

Warming up

The weather has been rather chilly here, but when you live in a cold climate YOU MUST get out and enjoy it or you will go mad!  We had a beautiful sunny day yesterday and spent it outdoors with friends and family   We had a fire and picnic - it was so cold the quinoa salad froze first as we ate it, then the bean salad soon after, potato salad stood up a bit longer.  Hot chocolate was essential, the marshmallow is just a sweet extra.

8x8 oil on canvas

Prepping for a bunch of paintings

So in about 2 months time I have to have 5 paintings ready for my final graduation show.  Prepping for a painting usually takes about as long as the actual painting itself sometime, depending on the size and detail involved.

I am trying to stick to a theme, winter in Edmonton, and have a few pictures and value sketches picked out to try some colour studies with.  Tomorrow I begin the painting part of this endeavour.