Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Prairie Creek

I have been tempted to paint this scene in the winter, maybe now that I have done a summer study, I'll return to paint it in the snow.  10x6", Oil on Linen.

2 comments:

Kwabena Sarfo said...

Wow, I'd love to see what this place looks like in the snow! But that's probably just because it doesn't typically snow where I live, and I'd love to go out and paint in a snowy landscape :D

Oh, I was also wondering; how often do you purposefully attempt to go out and paint in the snow when it's not a clear day? Sort of when its significantly overcast? Because I imagine that would present some really interesting lighting challenges that would be very tempting to try and tackle. But then, I suppose with an overcast sky there'd always be the fear of more snow approaching...

-Sarfo

Sharon Calahan said...

A lot of whether I decide to go out and paint in the snow has a lot to do with wind conditions. If it is calm I'm much more likely to talk myself into going. If it is sunny, it is even easier, and it is so cheerful. I've painted many times when I was shivering uncontrollably and it isn't pleasant, so I prefer to be comfortable whenever possible. I've been tempted to paint a winter fog scene, but I haven't done so yet. The sunshine makes it much easier to leave a cozy woodstove to brave the elements. I have tried to paint with snow falling onto my palette and it doesn't work very well.

Painting snow puts so much more emphasis on design which is one reason why I like the challenge of it. If it is overcast, I think that design is even more important. I would need to have some compelling shapes to tempt me.