Winter

It's only October but here in the upper Midwest we've already had a fairly significant snow. A few days back Des Moines received about two inches officially, although one of the northern suburbs got an eye-popping nine inches of new snow. Happily, it was very brief and the snow vanished very quickly. Nonetheless, the white stuff got me thinking about winter. 

A lot of artists have painted winter--snow can be a very challenging subject, and so can bare trees and ground. Most artists who have painted winter scenes probably did so in the warmth of the studio. That's not to say artists in the past didn't work outside even in the worst weather, but it seems unlikely that very many paintings were completed, bare canvas to signature, en plein air. One who did work in snow is Claude Monet, who worked the streets and countryside before 1870. One my favorites is "The Magpie," painted in 1868. In this fairly large work Monet has shown one of the ways to depict snow using value and color temperature. The magpie is perched on a wooden gate in a wattle fence topped with a thick snowfall. The sun washes the snow in the distance behind the magpie with a warm yellow-white light. The snow on the fence top is a value step darker and a cooler pale dull violet. Throughout the work the value range is kept fairly narrow and the snow layers and shape differentiated by color temperatures. For me, this is a brilliant work.

Claude Monet, "The Magpie," 1868

Hoff, "Winter Study," oil, 5x7 2018

Although I've yet to paint anything outdoors in winter, that's not to say I've ignored the season. Instead whatever winter subjects I've done are based on personal reference photos, observation and memory, and other sources. Once in a while, before I began plein air work I managed a quick sketch of a snowy view from the studio (right) where I experimented with the same idea as Mr. Monet.

Hoff, "Winter Walk," oil on canvas, 20x24

One winter cityscape from years ago remained in our home collection for quite a while and employed a similar stratagem in colors. The sky has begun to clear after a snowfall has covered the street and sidewalks at least several inches deep.

This year I may try to complete some winter paintings outdoors. At least that's my current plan, but with any luck at all, perhaps a few more sunny and warmer days will intervene.