Winter Whites
Negative space and single colours
Last week, we used white for sunlight and colour for shadows, learning to see in extremes. This week, we’re taking that principle further by combining two powerful techniques: monochrome painting and negative space.
Instead of painting snow, we’re going to paint everything but the snow, letting the white paper do the work. Combined with using just a single colour, we’re forced to think about values, and the spaces between things.
Snow creates natural negative shapes. And we’re not painting it, we’re carving it out.
Exercises
For both exercises, choose one colour. Blues and purples are obvious choices as reflected light and shadows on snow tend to be cool. But we already learned it’s about values, not local colour, so you can pick any colour that gives you a range of values from light to dark.
1. Pine Forest
Start with a light wash for the background, or sky.
Before it dries, add some background trees with a slightly darker value, still in the light range
Once it’s dry build up darker trees. Here you can experiment with shapes, textures and composition.
If you didn’t in your first wash, lightly hint at some shadows in the foreground snow
2. House on a Snowy Hill
Here we’re carving out the white roofs of a house, using only 2 values.
Lay down a medium-light wash for the distant hill, painting around the house. Add a few light shadows in the foreground
Once dry, paint the tree, the house and any other dark elements like a fence.
Add a few light marks here and there for texture in the snow
Why
Develops your ability to see and preserve negative shapes
Builds confidence painting around objects instead of trying to “draw” with paint
Working with one colour removes decision fatigue and lets you focus on values and shapes
Teaches you to trust the white paper, it’s your brightest, purest white
I’ve made an in-depth demo of this snow scene on Patreon, showing how to work with a limited palette while sticking to the same principles. You’ll get a free month and access to 40+ landscape demos when you upgrade to the premium newsletter.
Preserve your whites,
Patrick
Next up for premium subscribers:
Video tutorials of the exercises
Master artist spotlight
Ideas for taking this exercise further
