Backyard Snow

 We finally got a respectable snowstorm out here and I went out back with ArtisticInTent to commune with it. This work in progress is a quite bit more expressionistic/chaotic than my usual, but its part of an idea I've been working on for a while, which is to incorporate the feeling of the whirling snow directly into the painting from the beginning, rather than establish the scene and then add the snow on top. Even though I started out very loose and unplanned, it wasn't long before geometrical and structural elements began to emerge from the mush.

ArtisticInTent

Earlier in the same day I did the previous oil sketch, I started a quick sketch in my pocket sketchbook, using white ink on toned paper (second pic). I was just trying to get the feel of the swirling snow, and only got a few lines down before the paper started getting too wet. I went back and filled it out more from memory and invention, still trying to focus on the movement of the layers of falling snow, with the trees, houses etc as supporting cast members.