Stanser Joch

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Lovely picture Christof. I particularly like the way you've handled the forest in the shade - just the right "out of focus" effect, but with interesting textures. Nice one!

Stanser Joch (2102m), Tirol, Austria. 56x38cm, Watercolour on Saunders Waterford 640g. The snow covered mountains north of my home town got the first warm sunbeams when the houses in the Inn-valley had been still in the freezing shade. It was a clear blue sky and the temperature well below zero. The snow on the roofs and on some trees in the gardens reflected cool light blue spots standing out between the dark wooden houses of the settlement. I painted from top down, starting with the sky in Cerulean Blue and went on with the snow on the mountains, where I reserved some white of the paper. For the sun lit part of the forest I used warm colours such as Burnt Sienna and Yellow Ochre. When I came to the parts in the shade I added more and more cool colours ( Alizarin Crimson, Cobalt Blue,…). I kept the shapes of the houses simple, not to overwork the whole composition. Also the snow filed in the foreground I painted in one go. The main challenge in this painting was to get the colours and tonal values of the sun lit parts and those in the shade right.