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Writer's pictureBob Palmerton

StudioSense: "Snow Blue and the Seven Dwarfs?"


Last year I published this blog addressing how snow can exude a variety of colors, mostly of blues, purples and cool pinks. As I continued painting "Cross Country Craving" below, the brightness from the clear sky surfaced true white in the ski tracks. Here's the latest version of this work-in-progress:


So I guess the message is "don't forget about the white." I must admit that every snowball I crafted as a child was white. It didn't occur to me back then that carrying that snowball in the shade would turn it bluish. Perhaps we don't really think about such concepts as seven year olds!

Here's my earlier blog:

As I started my snowy winter scene, I left WHITE out of the selected palette. Enjoy a walk through the early morning woods when the ground is carpeted in snow. It will be hard to find the color white unless you are in full daylight. Below is our new winter scene in which I created an orange underpainting to highlight the BLUE of the snow.


Notice how the blues "pop" against the orange wash. The lightest color I applied here is a very light pink/blue hue. I also applied a mid-value purple to the snow in the wooded areas (the color is called "Cassius" by Great America Artworks). My lighter blue from the same supplier is called "Denim" (they must have fun naming their colors). Chunky blue Mount Vision pastels comprised the balance of the blue snow in this work in progress.

Part of me wants to leave the painting alone and call it done: perhaps a "contemporary traditional" landscape?

I'm not sure yet it I'll paint the Seven Dwarfs lurking in the woods.

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