"Quiet Cold" Wenatchee River oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Quiet Cold"  9x12 oil on panel  Sold

This was painted from reference photos taken on the way to a family ski trip near Lake Chelan.  We had quite a winter this year and there was already a lot of snow as we came across the Cascade Mountains through Stevens Pass. My son Maury was driving and he pulled off in many spots to take photos. We both paint and we were both wishing there was more time to set up for plein air.

I used a limited palette for this painting focusing mainly on separating light shapes from shadow shapes. I really did not spend much time trying to render any objects until the very end . I wanted the shapes to form visually interesting patterns. As I separated the light from the darks the objects began to be recognizable.  Near the end of the painting I added some "bling" in the foreground grasses and the middle-ground tree shapes. I softened some edges where the snow meets the water and kept some edges crisp along the rim light on the rocks.
The colors in my palette for this painting were,

Titanium White
Warmed in the sunlight and cooled in the shadows, only small bits are pure white.

Yellow Ocher
Used to warm sunlit areas and mixed with Ivory Black or Alizerine for the final touches in the trees and grasses.

Alizerine Crimson
Used with the blues for shadow areas on the snow and for the grasses in the foreground.

Viridian
Mixed with Ultramarine Blue and Cobalt Blue to get the depth in the water . Also makes a great rock grey when mixed with Alizerine and tinted with Titanium White.

Cobalt Blue
A cool blue essential in a winter scene such as this.

Ultramarine Blue
A warmer blue to add variety in shadow colors and to make rich purple hues when mixed with Alizerine Crimson

Quinacridone Rust
My go to drawing and underpainting color.  Also good for greying mixes, Add to Ultramarine Blue for a rich chromatic black.

Ivory Black
Mixed with Yellow Ocher for grayed greens and Alizerine for grasses and undergrowth.

This painting was entered into The American Impressionist Society national small works show. I'll find out in April if it has been excepted..