Snow in the Mountains

This is one of my class demos of snowy mountains. Demos have to be fast and they are unrehearsed. I didn't want to draw and mountains are fairly easy to represent, pointed triangle shapes with one side darker. The lighter side is just white paper. When I start out this way, I outline with water, which is really awesome because you can't make a mistake because it's just water. It's also really challenging to see since the water is the same color as the paper! As I worked down from the mountains, I added the bright oranges and reds into paint that was still a little wet, making soft edges. I darkened the foreground and added the sky last grading from peach to blue. I added a couple of things after that, but mostly left the painting alone. I had no desire to lose any of the freshness of this piece. I really love the colors and the freedom of the paint!
Thanks to Jim for donating the reference photo that I used as a jumping off point for this piece.

"Snow in the Mountains" • Original watercolor on 100% cotton paper • 11" x 15"

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