A number of years ago, I did a large watercolor titled 'Mid-Winter Treeline' and was pleased with the result. This painting came from the same idea as that one, namely an open field of snow, a simple sky with a darker band of trees across the middle. This is a motif that I have used a few times, usually in my landscapes. Keeping most of the elements of the painting basically restricted to flat areas of tone, I built up many washes of color for the sky and snow until I attained the correct depth of subtle purple and blue that I felt worked best with the composition. The trees were added last and also needed a few washes until they were dark enough. A shaded area in the foreground helped relieve the severe horizontals and a few added grasses added a bit of detail to the deep snow. With this painting, I didn't feel the need to paint in all the details of the scene. Rather I let the flow of watercolor pigments form the trees and shadows etc. Size is 7.5 x 11 in (19 x 28 cm), watercolor on Arches paper.
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