Dirty Water Paintings

Living in Sweden is probably not much different from England, in the summer. Spring and autumn are similar too, although much shorter. I would say they are about 6 weeks each, with 10 weeks for the summer. That leaves 30 weeks for the winter! Of course that is my observation and it does depend on just where in the country one lives. However, it is long and depressing, especially after new year. It seems to be a country devoid of colour. It's most noticeable from the air. Everything appears to be black and white. Sometimes, when painting winter scenes, it's tempting just to use payne's grey. I did one painting a few years back, "Winter In Gyllberg", which I felt I was painting with the dirty water from when I clean my brushes.

Winter In Gyllberg




 

Can you see what I mean? I love putting colour into my winter paintings. It seems to really make the picture. If the sky is blue, then so is the snow, with even darker blue or purple shadows. The sky tends to be a weaker blue, more cerulean blue than ultramarine. The only warm colour is raw sienna, at best. It's not a lot of colour, but one should look for those colours and use them wherever possible. It's those colours, how ever weak or small the area, that make the painting come to life. It re minds me of those black and white photos that have just one object which is coloured. It's a nice effect. Painting snow is about painting what you see and not what you think you see. Snow is not just white!