It’s mid December and the river hasn’t frozen yet let alone little to no snow.  It was still cold, but still unseasonable for Dec.

The River entirely froze before I could get a nice sketch with the water contrasting with the snow…now it’s just one big white flow.

Winter hits early and with tons of snow.  Sketching outside in winter involves some preparation and quickness.  I can’t stand or sit too long to do much detail so I have to be economical and precise.  But that helps develop observational and memory skills.  One thing I love about winter landscapes is the void of all that mass of leaves and green that can dominate the composition.  In winter, you have lots of great sky and variation on snow.  Plus the trees have all this interesting gestural lines that you miss in summer.

I’m still torn on whether I like my quick watercolor or the final digital oil sketch…

When completing the more detailed digital sketch, I had to come back to this spot to focus on specific elements like the snow shadows, tree bark and how the pine needles are shaped.  I then sample these colors into my final palette.  Still, I could only handle 40 minutes sitting in the freezing cold.  I can’t draw with gloves as I need my fingers to feel the sensitivity of the pencil or brush.  I would never dream taking a laptop or Ipad out there…god forbid you drop a $500 device in the snow.  I’ve dropped plenty of 1$ pencils in the snow and with a little wipe, they are good to go.

This is a sketch I did when we just got a dusting of snow…I like how the brown and green of the ground interact with the snow.

This is one of the oldest parts of town and it’s right near the St. Lawrence Market.  I still struggle with drawing cars but I’ve learned to start with ovals and that helps get the gist.

Winter is much different in South Carolina than it is in Ontario.  The sky seems bluer and the light is clear.  But this day it was unseasonably cold and you can see the ice fall on the side of the mountain.  But there is little to no snow and so you have more browns and yellows to deal with.  I like both climates and tend to enjoy painting snow with all the different values of blue and white.  Table Rock is a great place to hike and explore, but it’s one of the most strenuous hike to the top.  I’ve lived on the west coast and have hiked some big mountains, but Table Rock is almost a vertical hike from the beginning.  I did some fall sketches on top of it and will continue to capture this great place all season.

Quick winter sketch of Holbrook Section of the York Regional Forest about 30 minutes north of Toronto.

This is a digital painting from a road I take from Lake Simcoe down to Newmarket Ontario.  This is the first attempt at taking my computer with me to a location.  I had to paint in my car as the temp. was below freezing.  The computer battery lasts only about an hour so I had to be quick.  I came home and added more details.  I love winter painting as the snow and light play off real well with blue and yellow.

The first snow is always exciting.  This is our first snow in Sutton, Ontario.  This is our front lawn, and I hope to do another version of the back.  The Briars is next door and there are a lot of opportunity to capture snowscapes near lake Simcoe.  It’s not even winter yet, but there will be plenty of opportunities to capture the snow in Ontario.

Another clear beautiful day at lake Simcoe.  This time I wanted to capture the wonderful sunsets over the frozen lake.

Lake Simcoe is big lake 40 minutes north of Toronto.  This was a clear sunny but cold day.  Once the lake is thoroughly frozen it is alive with snowmobilers and ice fishermen.  One day, Ann and I ventured out for a walk on the ice and saw a bunch of hosers driving their pickup trucks on the ice.  Other than the rednecks…it’s a beautiful place and I enjoy the view everytime I’m up here.