Trees in the Snow

by Bonny
(Victoria, BC, Canada)

Trees in the Snow

Trees in the Snow

This is the second painting done in my watercolour class. We took two extra lessons to work on this as we learned several new techniques. I also learned it's not a good idea to paint over white gouache, it turns everything milky!


My goal is to learn different ways of painting snow and water so I can keep the white of the paper and not lose the sparkle in the reflections.

Thanks for your comments! It's very much appreciated.

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starstarstarstarstar 		i got 2 cents
by: Anonymous

hello I've made it my passion to draw and have spent the last 20 years doing just that. Let me start by saying what a beautiful picture you have here.

Normally i just let people do their thing, but if you'd like to try something new here's a few ideas.

Less shading on the trees, along with fewer branches, will make your reflection much easier to replicate.

Also i'd suggest doing the reflection and trees all at once, as if it where one large tree, trying to keep the bottom matching the top. I believe drawing both as one will give you a better sense of how much to bend the trees for the reflection. It will be fresh in your head from just drawing the top, making the bottom a slanted dopple. Once you've finished, erase the middle, add snow and you should have your picture just as you'd like it.

An example would be like drawing 2 ovals overlaping, then erasing the middle to form an arm if that makes any sense?

Also I'd remove a lot of the detail from the reflection. Even in a clear reflection you won't get bark details, unless the moon decides to camp under it, as the light would not be bright enough. But if you do decide to keep it, darken them a great deal (almost grey with shade). When you see your reflection during the day or night its only because of the light, so if it's behind you your not going to see anything but an outline.

Anyways I hope this helped and these are merely suggestions, not answers. Everybody draws their own way and my style is not for everyone, but i hope it helps
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Beautiful!
by: Anonymous

Your little scene is beautiful! If this were part of a children's book, I would certainly buy it.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		peaceful
by: marlene

A lovely scene. It's so peaceful and relaxing. Enough detail to keep you looking at it. You have serious skill!
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Trees
by: Vicki

Very good work. Brrrrrrr!
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		snow
by: Mary Fraser

I love the sky...we spent a whole class last week doing that .. I use a very light horizon blue to give form to snow on the ground . Also a q-tip on wet on wet lifts color beautifully ..I do that instead of gouache when ever I can.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Trees in the Snow
by: Mops

Hi Bonny:
Love the colours in the sky, the trees and reflections....although the trees on the right may be angled a bit too much. The rocks are a little too dark and demand too much attention.
When I paint snow I use a flat brush....dip in water, not too wet....then I put a blue-gray colour on just one corner of the brush, then make a sort of arc shape.You can try the brush with the colour up or down depending how you want your snow shaded. You get a soft edge and a hard edge.
I really like your technique here.
Mops

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