I have taken many photos during our recent RV trip. This is my first studio painting based on one of the photos. The purpose of this painting is to re-present the color scheme that the Nature demonstrated in front of my camera. I don't think I can create, but I can simply document what has happened.
Can you believe I never painted snow before. That is true. Well, not any more. I painted this one after I returned from my plein air camping trip. This was our neighborhood during the deep freeze in February. I did this for a color study. I need to finish the 4th session of my online color teaching: "Color in the real world". To my surprise, snowscape is one of the simplest color situations in representational painting. The reason is very simple. Snow does not have much of local color because it is white. It may not have too much influence of environmental color either because its size. Therefore, the dominant color contribution is the light source colors. In a sunny day like this one, the dual light source situation is obvious. For sure you have warmer light and cooler shadow. You know why. So if you want to understand color temperature, paint snow first before you paint other landscapes. It took me quite a few years to figure this out. Duh....
This is my quick draw piece on the EPAT 2020 competition. How can you paint a subject which moving in a fast speed? I think the key is take advantage of the "repetition" (of course the subjects have to be willing to do it). I was located at the outside of the "practicing ring", The riders were running in circles. I paid attention only on one of the angles when the horses came. I extremely simplified the painting by throwing away the light, color, background, and even value. It does not matter weather the horse is black or white, nor the rider is a cowboy or cowgirl. I don't really know the anatomic structure of horses, but I only worked on the silhouette of rider's gesture, so I have a plenty of time doing that.
