Giant Winter Storm Coming!

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

With reports of a giant winter storm coming our way I thought it was timely to upload a watercolor I did last year, when we had better snow accumulations and fewer ice storms. Personally, for this time of year, I love the landscape shrouded in drifts of powder. Little could inspire me more, here in Vermont, particularly with the late afternoon sun fading after the cloud cover finally breaks away. 

This house in my neighborhood is completely transformed with snow. The warmth of the house color pushes forward against the cool of the sky, snow and shadows. Driving around Windham County earlier in the day, everywhere I went I saw cobalt blue shadows, which is the primary color used in developing the massing of snow, with ultramarine blue and raw umber in the sunny areas. The deciduous tree silhouettes brings a sense of warmth and depth to the house and landscape. I was using phthalo blue exclusively for my skies but have since evolved to also using cerulean and indanthrene blues, among others.

This watercolor is relatively small (9" x 12"), so one could consider it a study. I have started and am well along on a full sheet version (22" x 30").