Make an outline drawing

Start on the left-hand side with the large foreground building and the more distant buildings then fill in between.

Wash with watercolour

1. To paint a very simple sky wash, use the flat brush to pre-wet the entire sky area.

2. From the top add fairly strong cobalt blue watercolour using broad strokes. Allow the wash to become weaker as the strokes come further down the paper.

3. Wash and squeeze out the brush and suck out the clouds. Importantly, let this dry before starting on the buildings.

The rest of this painting is now completed using acrylics.

Distant buildings

1. Pre-wet all the distant buildings using the Round brush then drop in raw sienna and let it spread into the pre-wet areas.

2. Drop in well-watered raw umber especially to the left-hand side of these buildings and let the colours merge.

1. Use the same process and colours for the other two buildings on the right-hand side, but this time drop in a few strokes of burnt sienna onto the roof of the building on the extreme right-hand side of the painting.

2. Change to the Rigger and a mixture of raw umber with a touch of Payne’s grey to paint inside the windows and inside some of the doorways of all the buildings.

3. Add a touch more raw umber into the same mix and, with the Round brush, paint the impression of stonework on all the buildings. These are just a few random strokes; don’t start painting individual stones.

1. To finish the area, paint the wall in front of the buildings using the Round brush and a mixture of raw umber with burnt sienna. There isn’t too much of this wall as there will be a lot of snow on it soon.

2. Fill in the windows of the building to the extreme right with Payne’s grey.

3. Add snow to the tops of the buildings and the top of the wall using mixes of titanium white and cobalt blue.

4. Now it’s time for the first shadows. Make up a mix of Payne’s grey with a tiny amount of alizarin crimson. Look carefully at the building and it’s easy to see where the shadows have been added. Keep the mix fairly strong for within the windows and doorways then underneath the roof overhangs.

5. With more water in the same mix glaze over the left-hand sides of the buildings.

1. For the odd building in the middle distance, begin with a weak wash of raw sienna then add a touch of titanium white to lighten it even more to paint the right-hand side. Paint raw umber with a touch of titanium white on the left-hand side.

2. Add a few strokes of burnt sienna onto the roof. Let it dry before using raw umber to paint the beams of the building and a few strokes of stonework on the building. Add Payne’s grey within the window and doorway.

3. Whilst this is drying, add the snow to the roof, again using mixtures of titanium white and titanium white with cobalt blue.

4. Finally add the same shadow mix underneath the overhangs within the windows and the doorway and on the left-hand side of some of the beams.

5. At this stage drop in the first set of far distant trees to the right-hand side by stippling fairly weak Payne’s grey with the split ¾in. flat brush.

To paint the large building in the foreground pre-wet the whole building apart from the window and drop in mixtures of raw sienna and raw umber. Make sure that these are going in while it’s still wet to help them merge.

Use the same process and colour for the trees to the left-hand side as you did earlier.

1. To give the impression of stonework on the main building use raw umber, the Round brush and a few random strokes. Don’t go crazy with these. Remember: you are not building it, you’re painting it. Use the same colour to paint the mullioned windows.

2. For the ruin on the left add a touch of burnt sienna to your raw umber and paint a very simple block.

3. To add the effect of snow, use the usual mixes of titanium white and titanium white with cobalt blue.

1. Turn back to the shadow mix and the Round brush. This makes such a difference to this large building. Look at the overhang down the right-hand side of the building, which casts a strong shadow.

2. Now look at the inside of the ruined area, and how a strong shadow cast from the tower in front makes the inside more defined.

3. Finally put more water into the shadow mix and glaze the left-hand side of the building.

With the flat brush paint the wall in the foreground using the usual mixes of raw sienna and raw umber.

Once dry, add the snow behind the wall and on top of the wall.

1. Finally in this area, use the shadow mix to add a cast shadow of the large building on to the snow in front of it and onto the wall as it turns into the dark side.

2. Drop a little snow into the middle distance and paint the figures using a Round brush.

1. To finish, use the flat brush to add big bold strokes of titanium white and titanium white mixed with cobalt blue to give a rough base to the wall in the foreground.

2. Here and there, especially to the right, add a few touches of raw umber into the snow just to give the feeling of mucky snow. For darker areas you could even add a touch of Payne’s grey to your cobalt blue and titanium white mix.

3. Finally with the Round brush paint footprints using Payne’s grey and touches of shadow cast by the people.

The finished painting

Midhurst, acrylic, (53x76cm)

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Find out more about Charles, his work and workshops by visiting www.charlesevansart.com

This demonstration is taken from the January 2018 issue of Leisure Painter

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Follow Charles to paint this snowy woodland scene in acrylics

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