Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Settling In

With the first big snow storm of winter under our belt, it's time to start enjoying the idea of Winter.  We can't fast-forward to Spring, so we might as well find some pleasure in it.    And really, if it wasn't there, I'd miss the clean, bracing sparkle of Winter.  During the next three or four weeks, my main focus (along with tidying up some last minute Christmas work) will be on getting ready for Christmas - the decorating, the baking, and the joy of getting gifts for  people, so time at my art table will take a back seat.  That doesn't mean though, that while my hands are busy with Cherry cakes, casseroles and cookies that my mind can't be busy with art.   I have to admit that once in a while, we get a slightly "different" cake because I've been thinking too much art and too little baking!  What's a little baking powder more or less? :0
Looking out the window after a storm such as the one we got last night gives me so many ideas for paintings and backgrounds.  I love the view from our kitchen window and all the background and "story" ideas it inspires.  It poses so many mental puzzles to be solved.


How am I going to break down all that snow into bites that I can paint in a way that is identifiable, and not have just a mass of unstructured white.  What colour family am I going to incorporate into the whites (that's whiteS, not white)  to define the shadows and set the proper mood . . . blues, violets, greens?  What value scale do I use in painting the twigs and branches so that they all stand out, but nothing dominates?  And since I'm not a landscape painter per se,  what am I going to paint along with it . . . what story do I want to tell?  What mood do I want to set, and how will I do it?   That's half the fun of painting for me.
The dogs provide their own fun in the snow.  The earlier snow sent them giddy with delight, and though they are just as happy this morning, they have to bound a little higher to get through the drifts.  And telling their stories is another part of my joy in painting.


Cheers,
Heather
www.heatheranderson-animalart.com 

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