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Painting Winter Scenes in Watercolor

Consider the snow-covered landscape. Envision the bright light reflected from the surface of the snow and the softness of shadows over the surface. See the dark contrasts of tree trunks, the vertical edges of buildings or the rigid surfaces of partially submerged boulders. These are all elements in the joy of painting winter scenes. One thing that is for sure, snow is not white, but a reflective surface that echoes pastel tones of all colors. The old adage about white being the presence of all color is certainly true when painting snow. Shadows are not dark masses, but are, at the most, soft middle tones. Soft pastels are also valuable in depicting the sky's reflections on the surface of fresh snow.

Consider another possibility. You can paint a perfect wintry snow scene by painting what isn't physically there just as well as what is there. Examine the shadows and any darks in the scene. Since the subjects are blanketed in snow, paint any shadows rather than the subject from which the shadow is being created. It is a positive/negative style that is challenging to do. Try to ignore the reasons for shadows and paint only the resulting shadows. It sounds insane, but the result can be very appealing.

When painting snow, there are many ways to achieve the crispness of a freshly fallen surface, but most watercolorists use a masking liquid to preserve the paper surface and to control the amount of colorant that is allowed to penetrate that area of the paper. This liquid can be applied with a brush for wide swatches of white/light paper preservation or with thin brushes, cotton swabs, or even quill/dip-style pen points for fine detail. Two rules to remember when working with liquid frisk: After application, allow the surface to dry completely before over-painting. Second, remove the liquid mask material as soon after the painting is dry as is possible. The longer it stays on the paper, the harder it will be to remove. Best results are achieved by using a ball of old masking fluid collected and saved from a previous use. It will adhere to the somewhat sticky surface of the mask and help to pick it up without damage to nearby painted areas. Note: A light application of soap lather in your brush or other application tool immediately after application will aid in the removal of the mask liquid.

Other masks include torn paper "stencil"-type blocks used primarily for the control of broadcast droplets as in the depiction of heavy snowfall. Areas covered with the paper mask will be protected from the random spray of paint as it is discharged from the brush tip. While this mask style is limited in application, it is one of the easiest ways to "protect" areas adjacent to paint speckling procedures.

There are a number of ways to capture winter scenes where the snow is just beginning and where no strong buildup or total coverage has taken place. Using an absorbent material over freshly painted, still-wet areas can reclaim whites. There will be no "hard edge" look to this light-recapturing method, but for some winterscapes, it is ideal. Cloth, chamois, a clean paintbrush, or even small clumps of fresh bread (squeezed into a tight knot) can be used to absorb liquid colorants.

Another way to create highlights is by scraping through totally dry painted areas with the edge of a sharp blade, such as a stencil knife blade or safety razor blade. Both of these tools will yield a skip-and-scratch look not unlike blowing snowflakes. Care should be exercised in the scraping technique so that narrow scratches are used, creating those most like single flakes of snow. Too wide and the scrape will portray damage rather than a controlled subtractive method. Too deep and actual cuts rather than surface scratches might result. Just a little practice will render you an expert. This technique is also widely used to create the look and feel of grasses in foreground, to catch sharp highlights on the surfaces of objects or to offer tiny nips of contrasting, pure white for any reason.

Another method for helping to create a snow scene is the use of an opaque white paint in tandem with your watercolor palette. This could be white gouache or even white acrylic. They are used primarily as topical colorants after the final watercolor work is nearly finished. This is primarily because they alter the surface, and watercolor does not perform the same over them as on the surface of unaltered paper. When using acrylic over watercolor, eliminate brush strokes by smoothing over the painted area with a cotton ball or cotton swab. This will bond the opaque tone over the surface without leaving any telltale evidence.

Pastels can also be used over the surface to soften and lighten areas. Apply the pastel where the highlight is wanted, and then smooth the surface to gently work the powder into the paper. This is a fragile surface and should not be subjected to abrasion, but pastels can yield small, controlled areas of light tone that are strategically placed within a watercolor painting.

Whether you use a large area liquid mask, a paper mask, experiment with wet pigment removal with a cloth or cotton swab, scrape with a blade, use pastel or opaque paint in light areas or paint only the shadows of objects to create a winterscape, you will have a delightful experience in the process.

Watercolor Techniques