Let it Snow!

Since so many parts of the United States have recently experienced a large snow, I thought it would be appropriate to have a snowman on the blog today. Nothing brings to mind Christmas and winter more than snow. This friendly little snowman was painted for my Chirstmas cards and he is quite easy to paint with a limited palette.

The background and foreground were painted first using a wash of Windsow Blue with deeper blue in the sky area and a light wash in the foreground. While the paint was still wet, I dropped in large grains of sea salt to create the snowflakes both in the sky and in the foreground. I let this dry before painting the snowman.

The snowman was painted wet on wet using a very pale Windsor Blue - just enough to make shadows. The rest of the snowman (hat, details, etc.) was painted after the body was completely dry.

I finished up with a "spatter" of white to make some additional snow on his hat and in the deep blue sky!

So, if you are like me and live where you have not had the pleasure of a snow - yet, paint a snowman---it is almost as much fun as making one AND much warmer!