February 4, 2014

Snow day!  Today was a good old fashioned cold winter day... the kind I left behind in Minnesota?  Not so it seems.  It's beautiful, and I actually like that I get to paint it.  But it has put the chill in my bones, that's for sure.  Knowing it was likely to be snowing all day today, before I went out on location this morning, I made a stop at Home Depot.  I had an idea that if I found the right ingredients, I could rig a shelter that used my raised tail gate as a support.  With about $35.00 in materials in hand, I rigged up a very useable wind/sun/snow break as you can see in the photos.

It was hard to keep the fingers warm, and that's with glove liners, Atlas Nitrile palmed gloves, and fingerless mittens on.  On top of that, the paint was mixing with the snow most of the day, creating a very weird, granular mix.  It was nearly impossible to stick a brush into the paint and get any on the brush.  So, I painted most of these paintings today with a palette knife or two.  It was simply the easiest way to get paint on the panel.  I found that I enjoyed using the knife.  Only occasionally did I use a brush on the last three of the day.  

I had planned to go back to the same locations that I painted yesterday, and paint them again today with the snow falling.  That didn't work, except for the first one of the day, because the distance was obliterated by the falling snow.  None of the foothills or mountains that painted yesterday, were in view today.  Instead, I wandered the back roads close to my home, where there is always something of interest to paint.  

I saw a bunch of beautiful coyotes today.  Such an amazing animal, hardy and always an opportunist.  

I hope you enjoy the limited palette of a snowy day...

2-4-1 "Rabbit Mtn Redux" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

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2-4-2 "55th St Flurries" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

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2-4-3 "Snow Day" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

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2-4-4 "Frozen Road" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

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