The Artist - UK (2021-02)

34 artistFebruary 2021 http://www.painters-online.co.uk

ACRYLICS

Paint a snowy

landscape

Snow scenes aren’t

just for Christmas, says

Marie Antoniou, as

she encourages you to

let your imagination

run riot and paint an

exciting winter scene

with trees and snow

A

snow-covered landscape is

breathtaking to look at. For a

beginner the idea of painting

it can be a challenge. There

isn’t a lot to grab on to colour-wise

as everything is normally covered in

a blanket of white. Also, we tend to

associate snow scenes with Christmas,

which may put us off painting the

subject at other times of the year. If you

avoid turning it into a cheesy Christmas

card, a snow scene can be really exciting

to paint.

Owing to the lack of colour present it’s

easier to veer towards a tonal approach.

A reliable and commonly used colour

scheme that works perfectly is one of

subtle soft blue/purple hues to depict

shadows and snow, with trees painted

in intense darks, naturally creating

strong contrasts. I might suggest that

beginners use this colour formula and

then consider other tonal variations.

Colour and white

This subject will require more white

paint being used than probably any

other; so being able to create tints will

be essential in making your snow look

interesting and stand out. The idea is

to create soft pastel-like shades but

be mindful that too much white will

obliterate colour altogether – getting

the balance right is key.

If you find being imaginative with

colour schemes tricky, look out for other

things present in the landscape that you

can use and make more appealing for

you to paint. For example light sources,

whether sunlight or artificial lights;

strong shapes such as trees, buildings

or people; flecks of colour on people,

clothing, animals, or red letterboxes

and buses.

Reference images

Photos are a really good resource. I

always promote how important it is to

use your own reference material for

paintings but I do appreciate that it isn’t

always possible. If we take snow scenes,

for example, you might not have any

of your own snow-scene photos, or the

opportunities for compiling a library

of snow-scene material could be very

limited.

If you aren’t a hard-core plein-air

painter, don’t worry, there are some

alternatives for obtaining images.

Royalty-free websites have a whole raft

of images of different subjects that you

could use as reference material to paint.

Just type ‘royalty-free images’ into your

search engine. By using this option you

will overcome the hurdle of copyright.

When it does snow and if it’s possible,

make the most of the opportunity and

photograph as much as possible of this

rare event, then you can paint snow

t Snow Landscape 1, acrylic on acrylic

paper, A5

I often make small, sketchy paintings to give

myself an idea of colour schemes before I

tackle the same subject on a large scale

Marie Antoniou

teaches drawing and painting, privately

and in adult education classes. She

exhibits widely, including with the Society

of Wildlife Artists and the David Shepherd

Wildlife Artist of the Year, and has won

many awards. For more information, see

http://www.marieantoniou.com and

http://www.pics4painting.com