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Snow shadows
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Message
Posted
OK, the last controversial one went well - what a constructive lot you are!
So how about this one - we (most of us) love painting snow, however rare it is in this country these days (or perhaps because of how rare it is). And most of us seem to indicate snow shadows with cerulean blue, so far as I can see.....
Why do we do that? Normally, we go for complementaries to indicate shadow - eg, to darken green, we'll add a touch of red; to darken yellow, a bit of violet. And it works, on the whole. But what's the complementary of bright, shining white?
This is of course a trick question, because white contains reflections from all the surrounding colours and is influenced heavily by the sky more than anything else: or water. But you won't be using black will you (because that's an opposite, not a complementary). So - if it snows and stops flaming raining, which I dearly wish it would, what's your choice? Cerulean? Cobalt? Violet? Even a pink/magenta?
All of those could be right, or course; so could Terre Verte or Viridian - even very, very weak Pthalo Green. And of course there isn't a one-time formula that'll always look right. But IF you had a go-to - what'd it be?
Posted
I never have any predetermined colours in mind for shadows falling on snow. Obviously, as we all know, it will depend largely on the sky and surrounding foliage or buildings. (as has already been said). I do though, have a set palette for snow scenes, limited to seven colours in the main.
It could be any combination of the colours that Robert has mentioned, but ultramarine with a touch of alizarin crimson can work well on a sunny snowy landscape.
I’m not against introducing the dreaded viridian green either, not on its own of course, but I hate being predictable and following convention! That’s because I’m not particularly interested in copying nature as it appears, it’s more about how I perceive it.
Posted
I would go for shades of purple (seems odd putting it like that) but I looked back at a few snow paintings I did years ago and that is what I used and to me it works . As most have said, it depends on what else is in your scene. As Alan has said ultramarine and alizarin are a good start and I would add white and whatever other colours I have used in the lighter snow which of course is not just white! Yellow ochre is another option for me.
Interesting question Robert-makes those little grey cells tick!
