One Thing Leads to Another

 On a Snowy Day  in 2014 . . .

And I Would Truly Enjoy Hearing Your Reactions

Nine years ago we had a February winter storm when our grandson, Noah, was just the right age to spend a day jumping and sledding and making snow angels. Facebook recently popped a great photo from 2014 as a memory. 

I decided this photo was just too interesting to ignore. It is a great composition, light hearted and full of energy. I have also been wanting to work on my transparent watercolor skills. So here is my week of studies, perhaps to help me create a larger painting.

( I have continued to put gold gesso on paper to continue my gouache work, but took a break this week to do just plain watercolor.)

Three Paintings Using Different Approaches

Based on Realism

This first painting was sort of a warm up. I used a more realistic approach and made the mistake of using a cadmium yellow wash to warm up the snow. I don't like the results.

 

Next Try: More Abstract

To me this is much fresher and joyful. It also led me to decide to go one step further with abstract and patterns.

Abstract and Patterns

I love the clean lines of this. It needs to be a book cover, don't you think?

But does it need one more thing?

 

I think the foot prints add a completion to the story. I haven't painted them yet, but should I?

I would love to hear which style you find most appealing.