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Seeking Warmth in Winter
Topics: Learning to see | process | simplify | snow | subject matter | trees | winter | underpainting
Seeking Warmth in Winter
If you’ve been following my work for any length of time, you’ve noticed certain recurring preoccupations, themes I return to time and again to unlock more of the puzzle. Besides seascapes, trees are another love. My affection, respect, and enjoyment of them are hard won: it took years to paint one I liked. But living in the woods as I do, I have come to appreciate the beauty of trees in all seasons, and I do love a good challenge.
Here in New England, Winter is the toughest season to love. But painting the snow and trees helps me through. My secret is to look for the warmth: in the sun filtering through pine needles, in the treebark, in the warm glow of sunlight on snow. We long for warmth in these months, and those warm touches in a winter scene attract the eye and warm the soul.
Thumbnail shows four values, simple shapes.
To emphasize that warmth in my painting, I start with a warm underpainting of simple shapes, eliminating detail and placing warm light ochres in the sunny tree areas and and warm dark raspberry in the dark tree areas.
The snowy spots got peach in the sun, purple in the shade, staying in the warmth. The water got local color, because I often prefer to let the underpainting show through and in the water, local color works best.
Gradually, I built color with both reds and greens in the back, cut into the tree shapes with sky, and then finally began to draw in a few important trunks.
Building a forest is a back and forth process: placing in branches and trunks, softening, stating and obliterating. I search for gesture and movement in the branches, patterns in the light filtering through. I squint a lot, to soften detail and see pattern and shape.
Toward the end, eyes open, I add sharp edges and finishing touches. The pitfall with a forest scene is the profusion of detail, so editing is key. My quick initial thumbnail helps clarify a design, but many editing choices happen while I paint. This part is hard for me, and I’m still learning to mass more and more, and state less.
Deep Woods, 8x8 pastel
The less I can say, the more imply in these scenes the better.
I include the original reference photo here to give an idea of the editing process. A focus on suggestion, and on warmth where I can find it, may just keep me going through the winter.
I find working in series invaluable for tackling difficult subjects like trees, or whenever you're working with new subject matter. The above painting was painted in tandem with another of the same size, a different view in the same location (I love painting this way!).
I include that one below, plus several others in the series. Happy winter!
Winter Warmth, 8x8 pastel
Mid-Winter Melt, 18x24 pastel
January Walk, 8x8 pastel
Winter Carnival 8x10 pastel
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