Winter Color

When winter rolls around a lot of folks complain about the drab look of the world. After the brightness of autumn it's no wonder that winter colors are harder to appreciate. But if you look there is always color everywhere in the world. It takes looking and seeing, though. 

Here's a small watercolor from a few years back that shows what I mean about winter color. The painting was done in February--by definition the dead of winter--but there's a great deal of color in the woods and ground. Dry, dormant grasses lay flat on the banks of the creek; the soils here and there range in color from rusty to dark like humus; branches in the distance are no longer distinct but their color hangs in the air. No, the world isn't drab and monotonous in winter. Just look around. 

"Before the Snow," watercolor on paper, 5x9