Long shadows on the snow

 As the sun went down in nearby Loyola park, the trees cast long blue shadows on the snow. The blue, of course, is reflected from the sky and only visible in the shadows where there is no white light. The rest of the snow was sparkling white with warm colours and pock marked with shadows where people and dogs have walked and left footprints. The trees were painted over top with yellow ochre (PY43) and umber (PBr7). The sky was done using a blend of blue and green phthalo pigments (PB15, PG7), its something I practiced a lot since 2020. Phthalo is short for phthaloyanine, which is the chemical name of the class of pigments.

Tree shadows on snow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2025

The last of the sun was catching the tops of these two massive cedar trees, with a park bench in the foreground. To get the colours correct on the tree, the tops were done with a heavy blend of yellow (PY154) orange-yellow (PY110) and a touch of green (PG36). The lower portion was a thick red-orange (PO36) with the dark shadow green (PBk31). Yellow ochre and phthalo green provided some highlights here and there. It sounds like a lot of pigments, basically, I use about four or five paints to make nearly any shade of green. I avoid 'convenience' greens where the company pre-mixes pigments since they are hard to adjust predictably. The turquoise in the train yard painting I did yesterday, on the side of the train, was also a phthalo mix, it was the best I have managed to get the turquoise which is a tough one.

Cedars and bench, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, January 2025