The poetic landscape around me has always started many of my designs. Came across some lovely snowy px from La Basse Cour, on FB. A picture perfect farm in all seasons, right in my backyard.
Just have to sit down and play with some images from my archive. Focus is such a constant struggle for me, feeling pretty happy with
Soothing palette of deep blues evoke the depths of twilight. Fun to push the oil turpentine around, on paper. The addition of winter pines turn this abstract color study into a snowy landscape.
It takes a few weeks for me to get use to working in the dark by 4pm! It's more about studying atmosphere & less about light, with our short days.
Another morning of trying to capture the mood, outside my window.
Nice to have some milder April weather, but there's still snow in my yard. Let's hope we are all done with snowy days.
I see beauty in a dark winter sky. 
I start by toning the paper with soft pastel. A quick rub with tissue to indicate some shapes. Winter pines with soft blurred contours is created with charcoal. Touches of pink with color pencil is all I need to indicate the horizon.
The many faces of winter offer grand opportunity to play with color temperature & purity. The snow is a mirror for the subtle atmospheres that surrounds it, from pure warm and cool colors of a bright sunny day to the subtlety of a snowstorm.
Another contemplative meditation on the process of painting. After many days of endless grey, the sun finally show up!
Frosty Pink is the perfect name to describe this hue. The pink sunrise glow melts into different shades of browns, pretty quickly.
The days are so short that the light outside my window changes pretty fast.
Always a good idea to have some pre-mix colors for my nocturne... the winter landscape can be monotonous, but the sky can offer me endless color combination to play with. |
| pink sunrise, from my desk |
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| snowy woods with pencil & pastel |
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| layer on deers & winter bunny onto snowy drawing |
A very mild December morning. Unusual opportunity for me to go out with my sketchbook + charcoal. 
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| pines & sky |
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| charcoal & pastel |
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| charcoal sketch |
appreciation for the precious & quietly beautiful things surrounding me…from what's outside my window to my little watercolor brush! |
| Deer with Hearts |
We have a day of snow on the first day of spring, last weekend. A deer wander into my view. ..
I kind of like my little sketch of the deer.
Wind up spending the day doodling with swirls & winter vines. This might be my last winter design for awhile.
The cold keeps me indoor with my paints. Different artist influenced me in different ways. For nocturnes, I refer back to artist like George Innes & Whistler. Always studying their use of pictorial space & color sensibilities.
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| old fashion watercolor & a little digital help |
I could use fonts from PS, but hand written calligraphy makes anything special… tried many variations before I scan it into PS. |
| a little manipulation with my calligraphy |
I look forward to getting out of bed & start my winter morning routine. A quick sketch is the answer to my short attention span.
7AM, from my studio
