Snow On 15th Street

Denver just had a two day snowstorm so I went downtown to gather material for painting. This is a painting I did from three photo's that I took from the same location. I worked on the painting today so my Sunday email is coming out late. The wet snow was piled up everywhere as well as sticking to everything. I enjoy painting scenes like this because the snow covers lots of unnecessary details and the shadows and cast shadows are rich in color.

I was attracted to the big shape of the mail delivery truck so I placed it on one of the points of the rule of thirds so that it would automatically appear important. It is mostly unpainted white paper except for the identifying details of red, blue, and yellow. The tires and underside of the truck are a deep mixture of burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue. Some of the snow was already gone from the stree because of the traffic but I liked it better covered with snow. The three construction cones in the lower right corner were from another photo and I thought the warm red stripes would add some interest to the foreground and I lined them up in a way to lead you into the painting.

The utility pole with the tree behind it, along with the bar holding the traffic light, creates a subtle frame around the mail truck and the deep green trees on the left balance the dark utility pole so that the painting is stable. The other deep green trees, above the two cars are a slightly lighter value so they will look further away. It is interesting that snow against a darker background appears white and yet against the light blue sky the snow on the tree branches appears darker. This also applied to the snow on the arm of the utility pole but I decided to leave it unpainted white paper to move it forward in front of the tree. It is fun making these little decisions that depart from reality yet add something to the painting. I lightened the value of the buildings, left out lots of details and loosely indicated the windows because I decided an exact alignment wouldn't fit with the rest of the painting.

Most of the cast shadows on the snow are cerulean blue and the darker ones have some orange mixed in. The utility pole and the dark trees are a mixture of olive green and perylene and the distant gray building was painted with cerulean blue and brilliant orange. The two cars are lemon yellow and Indian red. Winter has arrived and I look forward to painting more scenes like this one. Happy Painting! Dennis