Monday, January 17, 2022

Gas Station on a Snowy Night


 With warmer temperatures, only -10℃ , it was possible to make a quick painting tonight in the neighborhood. The scene shows a local gas station illuminating a snow covered ground. The sky was an eerie mauve colour with streaks of indigo. Those colours tend to happen when it is overcast and the sun has gone below the horizon, they can be replicated with pyrol orange (PO73) and indo blue (PB60) and some touches of yellow (PY154). To get the snow-effect, you basically allow the snow to fall on the painting! It never looked this good though, just luck that the snow was small and granular. Too much snow will destroy the painting, but today I was lucky indeed. If you paint indoors, you can get a similar effect by tossing a bit of salt on the wash as it dries. Honestly I did not think this painting had much of a chance to work, but it really turned out well. One big help was the head light that Cilei gave me, it allowed me to see what I was doing and better judge the colours. To complete the experience, try to imagine giant snow plows and snow trucks rumbling by, interspersed with long moments of pure silence.

Gas Station on a Snowy Night, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, January 2022 (No. 3060b)

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