Snow is fun to paint and, for me at least, it happens rarely enough that I often forget the details of what it looks like an how to capture it. So let’s use photos to observe what it looks like, and think about how to paint it.
Falling Snow
When snow is falling it’s overcast, of course, often with heavy clouds. For this reason it can be quite dark, with gray skies; flat, cool, dimmed light; and no visible shadows.
I find it difficult to capture falling snow in photos, because the white, moving flakes tend to blend in with flat, white-to-light-gray skies. In the photo, you can see the flakes only against the dark trees. In a painting, I could try to emphasize the flakes more, perhaps by making more of the background dark. As with other forms of atmospheric perspective (e.g. mist), items further in the background (such as the buildings) will simply appear light-colored and low-chroma, as if a sheer gray curtain has been drawn across them.
Painting Tips:
- White gouache splatter as the final step (as in a starry sky) can be useful here. Use wetter paint or a larger brush for larger, chunkier snowflakes (as on a peaceful snowy day). For very large flakes, use a brush to daub down a flake and soften the edges with a damp brush. For finer flurries whipping in the wind, try splattering off of a long, thin brushhead (such as a rigger script brush).
- Salt can look snow-like because of the variable size and “flake” pattern of the white splotches, but it doesn’t get as bright white (and I personally find it hard to handle).
- Spraying a light mist of water while the paint is halfway between damp and dry may achieve a similar effect to salt, but it can be difficult to get the timing right.
- The same scene may have large and small flakes. Try a combination of approaches.
Snow Shadows
The days after a snowfall are when I can get those sun-and-snow photos with blue skies and lovely interesting shadows.
Golden hour can create these lovely delicate gold hues in the light parts of the snow. (And the golden hours, two a day, make up a pretty high proportion of the day when your day is only 8 hours long.)
The snow in the photo above is very powdery and dry, so you can see visible texture.
It also appears here as though it has snowed again over the top of footsteps and sled tracks, given them a rounded, soft appearance. Note how the high peaks of the snow mounds / edges of the footsteps are lighter than the surrounding, untouched snow. This contrasts with the shadows.
The color of the shadows is very interesting to me. Shadows tend to reflect the colors of objects around them, including the sky (which is why they are so often blue outside). In this case, the shadows are a muted, grayed blue which appears in some places to be a violet-blue, especially closer to the camera and shallower shadows. As you look off further from the camera, down the road or into the trees, or into the depths of deeper shadows, the shadows appear bluer/more cyan and actually higher chroma. This might in part be a trick of the camera but it rings true to me for real life experience.
Painting Tips:
- Create a grainy texture with granulating paints, drybrush, and/or rough press paper.
- Gordon MacKenzie recommends masking the white edges on the edge of tracks/wells/footsteps. Leave the side against the shadow hard, and soften the side that fades into the base snow.
Color Mixes:
- In my January 2024 Nature Spot Challenge, I found the mix of Phthalo Turquoise (PB16) and Quin Violet (PV19b) useful for swinging between a muted violet and a strikingly bright cyan.
- Mute blues with red to achieve a variable gray-violet. Shari Blaukopf uses a mix of DS Indanthrone Blue (PB60), DS Cerulean Blue (PB35), and Holbein Permanent Alizarin Crimson (PV19, PBr25).
- Granulating color mixes may work well for emulating the texture, sparkle, and simultaneous purple-and-cyan nature of snow shadows. According to Zoltan Szabo’s 70 Favorite Watercolor Techniques, Zoltan Szabo painted snow shadows with (genuine) Manganese Blue (PB33) and Cobalt Violet (PV14).
Snow Texture
I took this photo because I was tickled by the scene of the model snow-covered church buried in actual snow. (Note that the “snow” on top of the church roof is fake, but remarkably has a texture similar to the actual snow.) This photo is at a weird angle but it’s instructive of the texture of dry, powdery snow with intermittent pits and sparkles.
Painting tips: I have no idea. Drybrush?
Deciduous Trees in Snow
The branches of bare deciduous trees achieve a frosted appearance in snow.
Dark underbranches may appear broken where other branches cross them.
Note that even white snow may appear to be a darker, grayer white compared to the white of a bright, overcast sky.
Extra snow may gather at the crotch of branches, at the base of the tree, or on diagonal/horizontal branches. During a windy snowfall, snow may adhere to the side of the tree on the direction facing the wind.
Some trees, such as oaks and beeches, retain some dead leaves even in winter.
Painting Tips: I find it almost impossible to preserve white in a deciduous tree scenario. I resign myself to largely using white gouache.
Conifers in Snow
Conifers tend to bear larger splotches of snow because their branches and needles can create a larger surface area to hold it. The more snow is on a tree and the wetter it is, the more the snow will cause the tree limbs to sag with the weight of it. Sometimes lower branches sag while relatively snow-free upper branches look normal. Depending on the wind and the way the snow fell, some trees may have a lot more snow than others. Because the snow tends to gather in a larger volume in one place, conifers may remain snow-covered longer than deciduous trees.
Painting Tips: Snow-covered conifers may be easier to paint with a “leave the whites” method compared to deciduous trees.
Snow and Ice
I took this photo for the cute little goldfinches, but I think it also illustrates the way an icy creek looks as it melts! You can see the way the ice dissolves into rounded shapes as it becomes darker, more reflective water. The snow is whiter than the ice, and in the midground of the photo you can see what it looks like as it melts on the ice, kind of petering out in airbrush-like splotches.
Light Snow
In light or melting snow, flat areas of ground (such as this path) may be white even while more uneven or foliage-covered ground show lots of patches of ground color with plants/grass sticking up. Trees may be snow-free or bear occasional small clumps at knots and junctions, and or on particularly horizontal branches.
Conclusion
Snow can look really different depending on the weather (whether it’s currently falling, melting in the sun, freezing in additional cold, etc.), the type of snow (peaceful thick white flakes vs. powdery flurries vs. blizzard), the time of day, and so on. Adding details with a high level of specificity and internal consistency can really help to make a snow scene ring true and bring the viewer into your winter wonderland.