A White Christmas?

With beautiful snow falling outside the cottage  I am looking back thinking of how I started 2009.  My first demonstration of the year was at Farnham Arts Society where I covered a number of subjects. The favourite appeared to be a simple study of a snowdrop. Looking at the snow today it is easy to paint one  imagining how it would look covered with snow. Here I have not used masking fluid as I find it can often create hard edges. These can sometimes kill the feeling of the wonderful light I am aiming for to add excitement in my finished painting.

                                                           "Snowdrop Study"  Stage 1.

Today I walked past a local farm in the middle of  country fields. It looked just like a scene from the cover of a chocolate box / I couldn't help  painting it as such exaggerating the colours and hinting at warmth  missing in the winter scene of  cool grey and violet.

These quick studies on scraps of paper are a wonderful way of warming up before tackling a serious painting. I have ideas now on how to create a beautiful large scene of snowdrops and the farm could make an amazingly colourful abstract if it lost the " prettyness" and became more expressive with energetic and varying brushstrokes.

Out of interest all the local shops are running out of salt as everyone is  laying it on paths, lanes and roads to prevent  slippery icy roads. I am keeping my  supplies for snow scenes locked in my art studio where it is  hidden only for my use!