I’ve had a number of requests asking: How do I paint snow? I have my ideas but why not go to an expert?! This is where my guest steps in. Diane Fechenbach paints snow scenes where you can feel the cold nipping at your face and hands, smell the freshness of new-fallen snow, hear the various sounds of snow being crushed beneath your feet, shiver in the cool shadows, or feel the softness of melting snow.
Don’t know Diane’s work? Here’s a taster!
Before I hand the blog over to Diane, here’s a wee something about her.
Diane Fechenbach Bio
Diane Fechenbach is passionate about dramatic light and shadow and clean, saturated colour. Her realistic and contemporary images have been featured in magazines and in juried exhibitions across the United States, have received national and international awards and recognition, and are in corporate and private collections throughout North America.
The award-winning Colorado artist, juror, and instructor is a Master Signature and Signature member of numerous art organizations. You can see more of her work on her website.
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Warm Up to Snow
Pastel is the perfect medium to make the snow in your paintings sparkle. Whether working in your studio from photographs, or – egad! – painting en plein air, here are a few tips on warming up to the subject of snow.
First, a word about materials. My go-to pastels are made by Terry Ludwig, Sennelier, Richeson, and Girault. However, I have – and use – everything. A variety of brands are included in the examples shown here so you can see that it is the COLOR rather than the brand that is important. Every manufacturer has a range of colors and values suitable for your snow scenes. Use whichever brand you prefer.
I paint on every surface that is out there, primarily UART. Occasionally, failed watercolor paintings become pastel paintings with the application of pastel primer or sanded gesso to the surface. Again, find something that you are comfortable using.
Now to the paintings!
Too often winter scenes are glaring white and drab gray. The following are pointers on making your winter scenes sing. They include:
- lighting
- atmospheric perspective
- warm (yes, warm) and cool color palettes
- complementary and analogous color schemes
- nuanced colors
1. Lighting
The type of light on your snow is important in deciding how to handle the scene. On a sunny day, the color of the light is pretty easy to sort out: winter skies are often a clear, brilliant blue, therefore, snow in sunlight is warm; snow in shadow is cool because it is lit from the sky above.
See Fig 1 for samples of sunny snow choices. The colors range from warm cream on the left to cooler blue on the right. These all “read” as white, although none of them actually are.
Fig 2 has examples of shadows on a sunny day. Again, the colors are warmer on the left and shift to cool on the right.
In the painting Winter Skirt, the snow moves in and out of the shadow in the foreground and recedes into the background.
In Dancing Shadows, shadows move across the sun-drenched surface of the snow as well as recede to the edge of the trees in the background.
On overcast days, or times when the sun is not fully above the horizon, look for the softer blue-gray of the sky and rich neutrals for shadows.
Fig. 3 and 4 show examples of more grayed tones for the “light” snow, and grayer colors in the shadows. Notice also that the overcast shadows have darker values that are the result of the dimmer ambient light.
Lastly, remember that sunrise and sunset create a warm glow like that in Winter Heat. This painting is a good example of the neutralized blue of the snow in the shadow of the trees.
2. Atmospheric Perspective
We all know the rules of Atmospheric Perspective: closer objects are warmer, have more texture and harder edges; distant objects are cooler with minimal texture, soft edges, and less value contrast. So it is with snow.
In the paintings, New Year Blues and Frozen, the sunlit snow in the foreground is a pale buttery cream; the snow in the background is pale blue and delicate pink. Nothing is flat white. The effect is that some of the snow comes forward and some of the snow recedes into the distance.
Atmospheric Perspective is also an important factor in shadows. In Bear Creek Light snow shadows are blue-green in the foreground, changing to blue with some violet, and becoming a more neutralized blue toward the back. The sunny snow follows the same rules where the snow in the foreground is light yellow and snow in the far background is actually pinkish/lavender.
3. Warm and Cool Palette
Paintings can often be classified as mostly warm or mostly cool. This is true of paintings with snow. Late Light, Lewis Road is a warm painting. Even the sky is a slightly greenish blue (rather than Robin’s egg blue) and the plums and grays in the far background are warm. Cold Sunshine (seen at the top of this post), however, is a cool painting. Even the sky is cold.
4. Colour Schemes
As you decide on your palette, take advantage of complementary color schemes (color families that are on opposite sides of the color wheel) or analogous color schemes (color families next to each other on the color wheel). Winter scenes lend themselves to complementary blue/orange palettes.
Look for drama in an analogous palette like that in Saplings in the Snow. The palette in this painting ranges from yellow to orange, and red-violet to violet, all of which are neighbors on the same side of the color wheel.
5. Nuanced Colours
While it is tempting to use your brightest blue and most dazzling white to capture snow colors, too much is, well, too much of a good thing. Balance these saturated color notes with well-chosen, nuanced neutrals.
Winter is full of interesting grays in bare branches, dormant bushes, tree trunks. But gray does not mean a shade of black. Instead, look for rich, neutralized versions of the colors you are already using in your painting. This creates overall harmony and a wonderful depth to the painting and allows bright notes of color to really pop in comparison.
In the paintings The Way Home and February Shadows, the use of neutralized, or “grayed” plum, orange, and blue color notes let the sizzling brights sing without derailing the painting.
The underpainting for The Way Home (Fig. 5) establishes the warm palette. Tree shadows across the path use atmospheric perspective to change from a greenish-blue in the foreground to cobalt blue and, finally, a soft violet-blue in the far background.
February Shadows concentrates the most vivid color notes in the foreground. As the scene recedes into the distance, the bright green-blue of the foreground shadow becomes a softer, cooler blue. Even the red-orange of the bushes becomes a soft salmon and lavender at the rear of the picture plane.
Pulling It All Together
Let’s pull all of this together in two final paintings – Willows in Winter and Middle Fork Afternoon.
In my part of the country, willows along rivers and in wetlands show off orange-red branches in the winter. A sunny winter day creates a wonderful complementary color palette of blue and orange. In Willows in Winter, the color emphasis is on the crystal blue sky and the red-orange-yellow willows and underbrush. Middle Fork Afternoon is all about the shadow in the ditch in the foreground.
In both paintings, the rich, vibrant blues and saturated yellow-orange bushes are balanced with a full range of grays in blue, violet, brown, and tan. These rich neutrals allow the stronger, complementary blues and oranges to take center stage without taking over. As these bright colors appear closer to the edges of the painting and toward the back of the picture plane, they, too, become less vibrant and more neutralized. The foreground snow is a creamy white changing to pink and lavender along the far horizon.
The next time snow is in the forecast, make a cup of tea, get out your richest pastels and warm up to the wonderful possibilities of snow.
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Sooooo are you ready to paint snow? Do you have a better idea about choosing colours to depict those “white” scenes? Diane and I would love to know!
If you have questions for Diane, please be sure to leave those along with any comments.
Until next time,
~ Gail
32 thoughts on “Diane Fechenbach – Warm Up To Snow”
Please pass on that Ms. Fechenbach’s Winter Heat just blew me away when I say it in the Essential Light (?) “catalog” So wonderful. Now I’m also blown away by so many of these (especially Late Light) and so grateful to you and to her for sharing this expertise.
Something to aspire to and be inspired by.
Hey Jennifer, I’m sure Diane will love reading your comment! Thank you!
Dear Gail,
Thanks a lot for you to post this wonderful sharing “Diane Fechenbach – Warm Up To Snow”. I do learn a lot from it. I have a lot of challenges to draw the snow and how to paint the shadows. Reviewing this post I will try again. I hope I will overcome my failure.
I will try again. Best wishes
Ahhhh Yu-wei, I’m delighted to know that Diane’s post has inspired you to try painting snow and shadows again. We have such a useful and clear guide now on HowToPastel!
I love how Diane uses such a huge range of tints, tones and shades of relatively few colours to add excitement without sacrificing subtlety. I would describe her style as Impressionism but so many modern impressionists use highly saturated colours which seem, to me, to be somewhat jarring. Perhaps I could describe her work as Impressionism for grown-ups. I especially love the ditch shadows in Middle Fork Afternoon which I would have painted far too dark.
Hey Eddie, you hit the nail on the head – subtle colours throughout which add excitement!
And hah hah Impressionism for grownups – that brought a smile. I hope it does for Diane too!
This is a great post. I am a show me kind of learner and seeing the actual pastels and the the results , plus the clear succinct explanations , make this a return to post. It will be a tremendous help with the snow scene I started and scrubbed earlier this month. Thanks Diane and Gail.
Artliveslong D
What wonderful timing Diane! Glad Diane’s post will be helpful as you head into your snow scene!! And I agree, it’s super to see the pastels as well as the results.
This has been so useful, as I was just about to start a snowy day painting. I hope that I remember all this knowledge that she has so graciously shared. Thank you, Diane and Gail.
Hi John, love that this came in the nick of time as info for you to use as you go into painting a snow scene.
You don’t have to remember everything – you can always come back to the blog and go to Diane’s post or search “snow” and it will come up 😁
Thank you for introducing me to another fabulous pastel artist. The article was clear concise and helpful: who could ask for more! We still have snow in the eastern sierra so I’ll hop to it and apply her techniques.
Hi Debb, so happy to introduce a new-to-you artist AND know that you’ll be putting her tips to immediate use! Hop to it girl! 😁
Pure magic! Although we get our fair share of snow in the winter in New England, I am not a big fan. However, seeing these beautiful paintings and being shown how to make snow interesting may just be what I need to try out a few scenes. Many thanks both to Gail, for presenting this great blog and to Diane for sharing her knowledge and beautiful creations.
Ahhh yes…magic!! I love Wendy that even though you’re not a big fan of snow that having Diane’s knowledge in your toolbox, you’re ready to try some winter scenes!
Thank you Gail and to you Diane for sharing your knowledge and expertise in, creating Snow with Pastels.
Your work is BEAUTIFUL and realistic. There is loads of useful information here! Thank you again!
Thanks Ed for your very appreciative comment!!! And you are right – there’s loads of info here to help us paint snow scenes better!
Well, just beautiful landscape snow scenes. I love the perfect title of Winter Skirt. This is a great lesson. And I just realized something; these visits with modern master artists are the equivalent of the museum visits of old masters.
Marsha, I love that you’ve made that connection between learning from old masters and learning from modern ones. And I’m so honoured to have so many modern masters guest post on this blog!
Wow! What a class in how to paint snow! This is a post that will stay on my iPad for awhile so that I can absorb it all – and practice it.
Yay Anne! Happy to know it’s so useful.
And if you lose it, you can always search for “snow,” Diane’s name, or have a look through the “featured artists’ category.
I loved this blog so much that I almost wish it was the start of winter again instead of the end!!!
That’s a lot of love Elaine to (almost) wish it was winter again….🤣
oh those were just awesome subjects, colors and beautiful paintings….you made them all spectacular from normal and natural sections of landscapes…just marvelous….thanks for sharing…
Juliet, yes! I agree with you about how Diane is able to make an ordinary scene something spectacular!
Thank you so much! I really appreciated the examples of actual pastel sticks, along with the fine examples of paintings, with detailed explanations of why and when to use the various hues for snow! Very useful!
I love hearing how useful Diane’s post is to you Marilee. And yes, seeing the actual pastel sticks in the colour/value/temperature IS so helpful!
Diane,
Remarkable paintings of snow. I believe you have captured the very essence of the simple and wonderful secret of Nature’s beauty .Thank you for sharing !
I already hit the save button on my computer.
Whoo hoo Larry!
And I agree – her ability to capture the essence of a snow scene is one of the things that caught my attention in Diane’s work.
Thanks for sharing this! What is in this article puts everything into perspective and really would assist me in finding appropriate and interesting colors.
That’s so good to hear Kathy! Maybe this will be the next mini Challenge in IGNITE!
So inspiring thank you so much! I guess I knew but never verbalized til now that snow is water and like water becomes a mirror that relects color and light…its tricky to get it right. I have lived so many places and in the landscape the quality of light differs so much depending on altitude, humidity, angle of the sun. As in seasons and latitudes, time of day, everythings in flux.. All the vegetation is different so the colors that are reflected are different. Among a million other things, the character of the places I paint that give a painting personality. Ithink of my home in late summer when the pollen creates a haze on the distant horizon or the green flash the moment the sun sets off the coast of San Diego’s pacific beach
Hi S – what lovely descriptions! Thank you for pointing out just how much the appearance of light changes through the day and through the seasons as well as how it changes depending on place. So true!!