It’s week 2 of the Chronically Hopeful 52-week art project! This past week the theme was Snowy Scenes and I have loved seeing all the winter wonderlands you have created!
If you missed the previous weeks, you’re still welcome to jump in at any point and join us on this arty adventure! This is a no pressure project, not a stressful challenge, so take your time and enjoy the process when you can and just enjoy the gallery when you can’t participate yourself.
In this post I’ll be sharing the piece I made for this week’s prompt and discuss the process and supplies behind it. At the bottom of this page is a gallery of all the latest pieces created by the other participants who are joining in from around the globe. Simply click on any of the thumbnails to be taken to the original piece where, in most cases, you’ll find a description by the artist.
Char’s Snowy Scene
As you probably know by now, I have been quite ill for the first couple of weeks of the year so far, I had caught a bug for the first time in almost 5 years just before New Years Eve, so once again my work was done while in bed. My lovely over-the-bed-desk has made that possible.
This week I only painted one piece, I just couldn’t manage more than that, but the community has done some fantastic art this week, so do check out the gallery at the bottom of this page!
Snowy River Bank
This piece did not turn out at all as I had initially envisioned it in my head. It took on a life of it’s own and evolved as I went along. It was actually my first attempt at painting a snowy scene, so I am quite pleased with how it turned out, even if it’s not what I had in mind initially.
At first I was unhappy with it, I had used way too much water, using a different brush to what I usually use, I was unfamiliar with how much water it would hold. There were many mistakes I had to blot out and repaint, not only because of the brush I was using, but also my brain fog. I wasn’t very organised in the order I painted things in.
In my head I was aiming for a stream in a forest, then as I painted it became a river flowing down from the mountains on the horizon and then the treeline appeared and in the end we now have a snowy river bank scene.
I also used only 2 colours of gouache to create this painting. It’s fascinating how many different colours and tones you can get by mixing just 2 colours in varying ratios. I did go in afterwards and add some snowy details with thick white gouache too.
* Click on image to zoom in.
Supplies For Snowy River Bank:
- Hot pressed watercolour paper
- Watercolour pencil
- Prussian Blue, Burnt Sienna & White gouache
- Round 6 brush
How To Make It
First, select a blue and a brown shade of paint. Then, using a watercolour pencil in a blue that matches the paint you chose, lightly sketch the main features in your painting. I outlined the mountains, the banks where the trees are, the river and a couple of rocks.
Prepare your paint in the pallette. I squeezed out some blue and some brown, then created a watered down version of both. I then mixed the two. Once with more blue than brown, and the other with more brown than blue and then watered those down too. This way, you will have a whole range of colours to work with.
First paint a clear water wash over the top area above your mountains. This is where you will drop in some blue to create the sky. By using the watered down blue and tapping my brush onto the wet paper, I made the top darker and the bottom lighter. You do this by simply tapping in more blue to the top area.
While still wet, use a watery brown-grey shade to tap in some vertical lines along the treeline area. As the sky is still wet, the brown-grey will bleed into the sky creating a misty trees-in-the-distance look. Let this all dry.
Close up of fir trees and sky
While that is drying, use a very watered down blue to paint the frozen river. The edges are a bit darker than the middle area. The shadows caused by the bank meeting the river. You can also add some of this same colour to the snowy banks to create the look of uneven snow causing shadows.
Once the sky area is dry, use a similar or darker blue-grey tone than the river to paint in the distant mountain range.
While the mountains dry, take some of your medium brown shades and paint the bare branches in the foreground. Decide which side your light or snow is coming from and drop in some darker brown on the shadow side of all the branches.
Close up of snow on bare branches
Now the treeline. Once the mountains are dry, grab your darkest blue-grey shade and start painting in some fir trees in varying sizes. Paint a few rocks along the river in the same colour.
Once the trees are dry, take some white gouache, in quite a thick consistency, and start adding blobs of snow to the snowy/lighter side of all the branches. Leave some gaps so the branches are still visible. Do the same on the tops of the fir tree branches and rocks too.
Finally, running your finger accross the bristles of your brush or by tapping on the handle of your brush, flick white paint all over the painting to create the look of falling snow.
Interpreting The Prompts
I find it fascinating how each person participating has interpreted the prompts in a unique way.
Some have chosen to use the prompts to decorate their journals while others are using this project to process thoughts and feelings. Some participants feel they’re not very creative, but have created some lovely pieces all the same!
I have said it before: there are no mistakes in art. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, what you think is weird, somebody else thinks is beautiful. We are often our own worst critics.
Often the pieces I dislike are the ones that others seem to like most. How strange is that? So don’t compare your work to anybody else’s. Just enjoy the process, and getlost in the moment.
Share Your Art In The Gallery Below!
I’ve created a gallery to showcase all our art in one place. Please add your pieces to it as you make them. I have been adding them myself so far, but your help would be appreciated.
Simply click the blue “add link” button below to get started.
If your image is already on social media then you simply add the link to your post in the box and your image will be loaded.
Add a caption or leave the default one as is. Your email address is also required, this will let you know of updates to the gallery and make the process easier next time.
Pin This Post!
If you don’t have social media, you simply select the “without a link” option and upload your image from your device. Add your caption and you’re done.
You can also click on any of the thumbnails in the gallery to see the original.
You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Week 4’s Prompt Is: Winter Woolies
You may use any medium you like to interpret the prompt, then upload a photo of your creation to your social media using the hashtag #CH52art or upload it directly into the gallery at ChronicallyHopeful.com/gallery for others to enjoy! Visit the gallery at any time to admire all the fabulous art.
Project Announcements:
For daily updates on this project and weekly share threads, you can follow along on Facebook or Instagram. I will however also create a post here at the start of each week for those who don’t have social media accounts.
For participants in the Southern Hemisphere, feel free to switch to the summer set of prompts if our wintery themes in this current set of prompts is just not sitting well for you. We’d love to see your creations and you’re welcome to add them to the same gallery. If you’re struggling to upload them, feel free to email your photos to me and I’ll add them to the gallery. Happy creating!
The gallery has a limit to how many images it can hold, so after 4 weeks, or 50 entries, I will create a new one. The old galleries will no longer be open for new additions, but will remain visible wherever they are posted.
Remember to use the #CH52art hashtag when sharing your art to be found and also featured on my Instagram and Facebook stories!
My artwork for Critters in the garden, you can tag me in the link below https://all-hearts.org/2020/01/21/little-ladybird/ or Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/Allheart-Australia-2203974156513057/ or on Twitter @artallhe
Thanks for sharing! I’ve added your link to our gallery, it will appear at the bottom of these posts and at ChronicallyHopeful.com/gallery Love your little ladybird!