As soon as the earth is covered with snow, every person who loves winter has a holiday in his soul. So why not try painting your winter landscape yourself? As soon as you start painting, the frozen winter landscapes will seem so picturesque to you that you will immediately want to reproduce them on canvas. In this article we will analyze the basics of writing oil paintings, and also, be sure of this, learn the basics of drawing paintings that depict snowy winter landscapes. The whole world admires the oil paintings of winter landscapes by Russian artists, because the Slavic winter is indeed the most beautiful!
Preparation and materials
What do we need to know to paint a beautiful winter landscape in oil? Snowy winter landscapes, oil paintings for inspiration and your desire to create something wonderful - that's almost all you need. You can paint with bristles or a palette knife, using a thinner or working without it, mixing paints with linseed oil, which helps to create a special structure for the finished work. In order to make the picture of the winter landscape really impressive, it is advised to use spatulas of different sizes when registering, a canvas measuring about 30 by 40 centimeters on a stretcher, as well as oil paints and napkins with which you will wipe the spatulas in the process of working on your creation.
Provide yourself with an apron, which you do not mind spoiling with oil paints, and be sure to cover the place where you will work on a picture, a transparent oilcloth or an unnecessary sheet. No matter how beautiful the picture would turn out in the future, it will not be very pleasant for you to wash your apartment and yourself from paint, which, by the way, can ruin the carpet on the floor or your favorite sweater.
What first?
When writing a winter landscape in oil, you should know that the canvas must first be painted in a neutral color, for example, with a liquid primer mixture with a wide brush. After an hour of drying the primer, you can begin to sketch, without forgetting about the composition of the future picture. Wait until the canvas is completely dry, and draw a sketch with a soft pencil, for example, 2B or 3B. Snowy winter landscapes of oil paintings have always fascinated those who look at them.
Draw a sketch carefully, trying not to put too much pressure on the canvas. The pencil is covered with oil paints, but such accuracy is necessary in order for you to get used to the composition and immediately think over what and what color will be spelled out for you. Having finished the rough sketch of the future picture, proceed to the preparation of paints.
It's time to paint!
For a winter landscape, oil must first be mixed and kneaded on a palette with linseed oil to achieve a consistency that will help the picture to be more effective. You do not need to knead the remaining paints with oil, because during work you will mix bright colors with whitewash, and linseed oil is already present in them.
In any picture, the sky first appears. In winter, especially on cloudy days, it is rather pale, so after you mix the blue color with white, you need to paint over the entire space allotted to it with a spatula. Closer to the horizon to add realism to the picture, add blue, closer to the border of the picture - grayish or white. You can add a few white strokes to make a cloud.
And after the sky - snow!
After you have registered the sky in the picture, proceed to the remaining large spots - snow on the slopes, lake, winter forest. In order to achieve a realistic effect, add blue, brown paint to the snow, gently kneading on the palette with white. Write strokes horizontally, slightly tilting them where there are smooth ascents or descents on the terrain.
Carefully inspect what you get - there should not be a single unfaded spot of canvas! It is better to notice the omissions at this stage, because further it will be more difficult to remove them, since you will go to the registration of small details that complete the winter landscape.
Do not forget the details
Since you have decided to paint a picture of a winter snowy landscape, achieve maximum realism. That is why if you have a lake or any other body of water at work, do not forget about reflections in the water. They are usually a little distorted, colors are not transmitted as brightly as on real objects. Do not forget about the islands of snow that lie on the frozen surface of a river or lake, prescribe them with brown paint, well diluted with whitewash.
Trees and bushes, written in broad strokes, need to be detailed in order to get the most realistic look. To do this, use a thin brush or rib of a palette knife.
Last brush strokes
Finishing to paint the winter landscape in oil, scatter snow over most of the objects that you depicted. For example, on the roof of a house, the tops and branches of trees, a boat moored off the coast. Use the whitewash and bristle brushes to make the effect of the snow that has just fallen, adding a little blue paint to the whitewash. The movements should be light and accurate, as the picture is almost ready, and of course, you would not want to spoil it with one wrong stroke.
Leave the finished painting in a dry, ventilated area, allowing it to dry, and the smell of oil paints to weather. Only after your winter landscape has completely dried out with oil can you take care of the place where it will be located. Place the picture in a beautiful frame, for example, white with gilding, with carved patterns and scuffs. You can leave the canvas without a frame - this way it will give the impression of an unfinished picture, but take care of the side edges of the canvas: paint over them with paint stains that seem to accidentally go beyond the edges of the picture.