Winter in Vermont

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

Yesterday, I set up my easel by the window, in our house and painted this outdoor scene. I approached this as if it was a plein air painting. Fortunately, the sun broke through in the afternoon creating all these beautiful shadow patterns across the land. 

In the morning, I was eager to experiment, with an underwash, before painting this scene or even laying it out. The warmth in the foreground, which is more noticeable in the painting, than in this photograph, is a result of putting an initial, wet wash of yellow ochre across the whole sheet. 

Usually, I start painting from a white surface but in this case it was already toned. This way I could exaggerate the warm qualities the sun was providing, in contrast to the cool blues and shadows, which characterize this landscape.