Why An Oil Painting Should Have Little White Snow

By Author: Anthony Keith Whitehead
Total Articles: 21
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This article is for newcomers to painting. It suggests that many of those starting out tend to paint snow scenes with lots of white paint. This is mistake and the articles offers some suggestions for avoiding it and producing better paintings as a result.

3000 Years Ago
It may have been about 3000 years ago that the phrases “as white as snow” or “snow white” or “as pure as snow” were first thought of – it might even have been longer because nothing is harder to get rid of than a cliché! But once it was a very original effective. Newcomers to writing whose own imaginations are more limited still use such phrases, but they have now gone even further beyond being even a cliché. Something of the same can be said for some pictures of snow scenes where the snow is painted as being entirely pure white.
But Is Snow Always White?
As effective as the metaphor or simile originally was, it was far from being universally true when it was coined and it still is today. But many of those starting out in painting do tend to paint snow scenes with lots of white paint. This is a mistake and avoiding it ...
... will contribute to producing better paintings as a result. Snow is sometimes white, but this tends to be when it is virgin and where there is an absence of sun and the sky is not a brilliant blue. In other instances it is hardly, if ever, white. For instance, in the great majority of places where snow has fallen, there will be objects around, or even undulations to the ground, which will cast shadows and alter the colour of the snow.
Even where it is white, there is not much that is white. Many people, especially non-painters, never noticed the colour of snow, but for anyone seeking to develop as an artist, observation is a critical concomitant and one needs to see what most other people do not see. Where colour is concerned, snow can be a little like those mimics we see on TV who can imitate other people very convincingly.
Do You Believe What You See Or See What You Believe?
There is a case in which “seeing is believing”. But it is also equally true that people see what they believe. In other words, people can be very unobservant. Now, a painter can have many faults but being unobservant is not one he or she can afford. So the next time there is snow around in your environment, just take time to notice what colour it actually is and how it varies from place to place For example, on the roadway or by a hedge tit will be quite different. In this respect, what it is, is often not what it appears to be. It is very rarely that snow appears to be completely white although, of course, there are times and places when it does.

Snow Reflects
But snow is a very reflective substance. When there is a clear blue sky, it tends to take on such shades. See, for example, the oil painting of Snowdon From Llyn Llydaw
where the snow has a definite blue tinge. This is also true of the water, for that has a reflective nature even more powerful than that of snow.
Snow And Differences In Colour
Snow is like a chameleon and its colour adapts to whatever is around it. But it is not always determined by a colour as such. Often it is a mix of colours and, importantly, shadows.
Shadows are sometimes quite light and may need to be created in a painting using a gentle gray treatment. But in other conditions the shadow can be really quite and how these variations are treated can make a big difference to the impact of a painting. Consider a hillside after a snow fall. In many cases you will notice variations of shading due either to the direction and strength of the sun, or even to underlying undulations of ground.
The effect of traffic on snow is always very strong. This is most noticeable on the road when cars, lorries or buses have sloshed over it. Any tendency to turn to slush introduces an element of brown. Where the snow has been sprayed by passing traffic, the “virgin” stuff around can be speckled with the brown variety. Similarly, where people have walked in the snow, gray or brown tinges will be introduced. In the countryside the same will apply when animals have been present. Of course, when the snow begins to melt, different shades and hues tend to.
Painting What You See
Take all such factors as these into account hen depicting snow. It will certainly make the painting more realistic and convincing, but it will also tend to make it a more interesting and attractive image. And you will find painting more enjoyable, for such benefits depend largely on one’s investigation into deeper levels of a subject and trying to bring out and improve on their characteristics.

AUTHOR: A K Whitehead
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This will take you to paintingsinoil.co.uk main page of original images painted by A K Whitehead.
All the paintings in oil here are by A K Whitehead, who is aself-taught artist, and are original oils and not copies. The approach is traditional, making use of various techniques, including impasto and glazing. This link will take you to the main categories of landscapes, seascapes, snowscapes, waterscapes and still life and all are provided with free frames and fastenings. Free delivery is also included within the UK.