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Stage 1

The basic pale crimson and violet colours are blended into a wet white background using a 2 inch paintbrush.

Stage 2

The dark base of the clouds are tapped in using a stronger violet colour, again using the 2 inch paintbrush.

Stage 3

The clouds are worked into the canvas using a very soft bristled 2 inch brush. Zinc white highlights are applied using only the corner of a fan brush. Constant cleaning of the brush is required to make sure the colour used remains white. The base of the clouds are then blended using just a few hairs of the corner of a 2 inch paint brush. They are then lifted very gently to fluff the clouds lightly.

Stage 4

A mix of crimson and blue gives a darker mauve colour for the basic shapes of the far distant trees and bushes. These are tapped in with a very stiff round brush using a strong and firm movement. These shapes are applied in layers giving depth to this far distant area.

Stage 5

More trees and bushes are added to the left of the painting using slightly lighter blends of mauves. Again, a round brush is used here. Highlights of red mixed with white, crimson mixed with white and mauve mixed with white are used to give detail. This will create a layered effect to this area. I like even the far distance of my paintings to have considerable detail to them and this is well worth the extra effort. A few distant tree trunks and twigs are applied with the liner brush using a weak mix of browns, mauves and white.

From this relatively early stage you can see the layers of bushes in front of distant trees. If you were to cut off the bottom half of the painting, you can see you already have the makings of a finished picture. It just goes to show that the time and effort taken in giving extra detail really does pay off and makes for a much nicer painting. When dry, these layers, which also have texture, really enhance the finished painting giving a 3D effect.

Stage 6

This picture illustrates better what I am trying to explain in section 5. Most artists, I've found, show their 'far distance' area as an image, or illusion of, say, trees and bushes......and it works really well. However, being a bit of a perfectionist, I find that extra care and attention to the background makes all the difference in the quality of the overall painting. As you can see here, if I take a snap of just the right hand quarter of the painting, it already looks like a complete painting in it's own right.

Stage 7

Now is the time to start laying in the snow drifts. This can be tricky. It can be difficult to keep your white paint un-contaminated, as each stroke of the brush tends to pick up the pink and mauve base colour. You can be sure by the time I have finished this stage I will not have a clean brush left. A 2 inch paintbrush is heavily loaded with a mixture of liquid white, titanium white and zinc white. It is then carefully and steadily dragged across the painting to create texture, shadow and planes to the mid distance.

Stage 8

More layers of snow drift are added. Careful to keep that white paint un-contaminated. A light, constant and steady pressure is needed for this.

Stage 9

This may seem a silly stage to you, but it is an essential one. It is an ideal time to put those brushes into soak and put the kettle on. Stepping away from a painting pays absolute dividends. Sometimes you can be working so closely, so engrossed, so focused that you can become critical of your work. It's at this point a coffee is needed followed by a brush cleaning session. I promise anyone who does this, when they re-approach their work they are normally pleasantly suprised.......

Stage 10

Some final touches to the snow drift here, making them more fluid and 'drifty'. The old faithful 2 inch brush is used again. Some small snow covered grass areas are also added to the base of some trees with a fan brush and a dash of pink.

Stage 11

Time to add in a lake.......again the old faithfull 2 inch brush is fully loaded with pthalo blue. I decide where the lake is to be and simply brush downwards. Woops - the blue is a bit too bright for my liking!

The blue has now been heavily toned down by adding  white on top and carefully blending it in. It took about 3 layers of white to get this tone.

Stage 12

The water's edge needs tidying up. A thin roll of liquid white with a dash of red on a knife just finishes of the lake's edge. This is raised so will give that 3D texture again. Both liquid white and red colours take the longest to dry. I don't anticipate this area of the painting can be handled for 3 weeks.

Stage 13

With a deep purple mixture and a chunky round brush, some foreground shrubs and bushes are added to the right hand corner - highlighting will come later.

Stage 14

A reflection of these bushes is needed. This is done by using a 2 inch paintbrush and placing it horizontally at the bottom of the bushes, a short vertical stroke will do the trick. This then has to be blended with a soft 2 inch brush in a horizontal line.

Stage 15

The bushes and shrubs are highlighted using a one inch paint brush and an oval brush. Various mixtures of white with mauve, crimson and reds are used to make each shrub stand out from the next. Small twigs and branches are added using the liner brush with Van Dyke brown. The knife edge is used to scratch in twigs also.

Stage 16

A small snow bank is added to the right hand side using a knife and a substantial roll of titanium white. This is applied quite thickly. This will give a relief texture, again resulting, when dry, with a 3D effect. Attention now to the left hand side, I think we will add some bushes and shrubs there too at a very slightly lower level than those on the left to create a little bit more depth. A slightly darker mauve mixture has been used on the round brush and tapped on in layers. These are highlighted in the same way as the bushes on the right.

Stage 17

A further snow bank has been added by loading the 2 inch brush very heavily with titanium white and dragging firmly and steadily across the bottom, paying attention to the lay of the land. A few shadows have been added to the snow using a mauve mixture on a fan brush, then gently blended in.

Stage 18

A customary tree is called for. Now this tree will cover some of the finer details in the background. I've found I have painted over quite a few details that I made to the far distance trees. But nevermind! The areas that will show through the tree branches still have their detail and once the painting is finished the eye will be drawn to the foreground detail and follow through to background details too. The tree is painted by using Van Dyke brown on a fan brush. The fan brush is held sideways to make a thinner contact. The thinner branches are applied with a liner brush using a weak mix of Van Dyke brown and thinners.

Stage 19

The tree now needs some snowy highlights. This is done with the knife, held sideways on, with a thin roll of titanium white. I start at the top right hand side of the tree and drag the knife down to the bottom, gradually bending the knife to the left as I make this movement.

Stage 20

A couple of fence posts with barbed wire have been added to the bottom right hand snow bank. Again, using the knife with a roll of Van Dyke brown. The highlights are also done with the knife using titanium white. The wire is applied using a very thin liner brush and a very weak mixture of brown and thinners. The painting just needs a signature and there, it's complete!

Stage 21

With not a spare inch left on my palette and all brushes used I face another cleaning up spree. A soak in thinners to loosen the bulk of the paint from the brushes and a scrape and a wipe of the palette will take me at least another 20 minutes and they will all be ready for the next painting. (Also a further 10 minutes is required to remove the paint from me and my digital camera!)

And finally...............

If anyone would like to follow the above instructions to accomplish a similar painting, please feel free to go ahead. Should you need any advice or tips during any stage, whether it be how to mix colours, types of brush used, methods etc. please feel free to e-mail me ayoub_art@hotmail.com and I am only too happy to help you out.

If anyone trys this painting for themselves, I would really appreciate a photo of the end result to perhaps include in my journal or to add as an extra special section to this page. Happy painting!