I start out by blocking in the composition I want.  I like the horizontal composition which will lead the viewer's eye to the skaters that will appear to the left of the Lake House.  I mix Ultramarine Deep (Blue) with  very small amounts of Transparent Oxide Red along with Alizarin Crimson to get the blue/purplish tone. I then scumble my brush across the canvas to draw in the design.  I am simply placing the shapes of things and am not necessarily concerned with exactness, yet. 

In this stage of the painting I have decided where the lake house will be placed exactly, what architectural features will be shown and the addition of color. I start to indicate light and shadow as well. The large evergreen tree that sits before the lake house is painted in. This is now where I am looking for exactness, from here on out I will be comparing the rest of the painting with what I have already completed.

At this point I am defining the frozen lake shore and mounds of snow piles using Cobalt Blue Light and Ultramarine Deep to add depth.  I added snow to the evergreen tree using Titanium White. I am thinking of leading the eye in to the lake house and out to the skaters by painting in snow tracks in the foreground.

Deciding against the snow tracks I blend the foreground opting for the “Less is More Effect”.  I didn’t want so many elements between architecture, skaters and tree shadows to compete with the foreground. By working on the forest above the lake house I can concentrate on tree trunks, shadows and greenery. I am in a thought process of tying these elements together with believability.

The forest line is continued across this large canvas. I keep in mind the light and shadows as well as the snow bank that meets the frozen shore line.  I am also using different colors of greens by mixing Viridian into a mixture of Cobalt Blue Light, Cadmium Yellow Pale and Cadmium Yellow Deep hues. The amounts of different greens you can create are astonishing given time and patience!   I also indicate the far rink lines with a mix of Cobalt Blue Light and Titanium White.

The far mountain peak I am happy with and decide no more work is needed.  Just as I decide this skaters show up! As they skate I touch up some highlights to tie in the scene.

……..adding more skaters and onlookers.

A close-up of the people I painted.  It’s not necessary to paint extreme detail. Just by adding some well placed strokes gets across the idea these people are enjoying themselves. Now on to fill the rink…... I mean lake.

                 Skating the Lake       24" x 36"      Oil

Finished!  I wanted to show a common winter scene in Evergreen, Colorado.  The skaters and others are out on the ice enjoying their time at the Evergreen Lake House.  There are expert skaters, not-so expert skaters and children riding on sleds. I wanted to also capture the light, shadow and depth with this piece. This was fun painting and I hope you enjoyed following along in this demonstration. 

A Close- Up of the skaters.  Enjoy.

This painting is available for purchase.