Snow is a funny thing to paint. It is white, and in watercolor you do not paint white at all. You paint everything around it and the shadows on it, and the paper does the rest. Grant Fuller, a Canadian watercolor teacher, shows the whole idea in one small winter sketch: soft blue shadows on a snowbank, heavy snow sitting on evergreen boughs, and a dark forest behind that makes the white glow.
How to paint snow in watercolor: the three rules
- Save your whites. The bare paper is the snow. Plan where the sun hits and leave it alone.
- Shadows are blue, not grey. Snow reflects the sky, so its shadows lean blue or violet.
- Darks make the white. Snow only looks bright next to something dark.
Mixing a snow shadow color
Grant mixes ultramarine blue with a touch of burnt sienna. The sienna knocks the blue back so the shadow reads as cool shade instead of bright paint. Test it on scrap paper. It should look like a soft blue grey. For the background he switches to phthalo blue with burnt sienna, which gives a deep, slightly green dark that suits pine trees.
| Mix | Use it for |
|---|
| Ultramarine + a little burnt sienna | Shadows on snow |
| Phthalo blue + burnt sienna | Dark forest background |
| The same dark, thicker and with less water | Evergreen needles |
| Burnt sienna + a little blue | Twigs and grass |
Which way do the shadows fall?
Pick a light direction before you wet the paper. In this sketch the sun comes from the right, so every snow clump is shaded on its left side and the long shadows across the slope run on a diagonal. Keep it the same everywhere. Mixed-up shadows are the fastest way to make a snow scene look flat.
Paper and tape
Use 140 lb cold press paper or heavier. Thin paper buckles once it is soaked, and the shadow paint pools in the dips. Tape all four edges to a board. If you lift tape later, make sure the paper is bone dry so it does not tear.
Common snow painting problems
- Hard lines in the shadows. The paper dried too soon. Touch the edge with a damp brush to soften it.
- Double edges around the snow. You painted dark before light. Always work light to dark so the darks overlap the shadow edges.
- Muddy white. Too much water in the brush while the paper was wet. Blot the brush first.
- Snow looks flat. The background is not dark enough. Push it darker.
Where to use it
This same snowbank and bough works on a handmade holiday card, a winter landscape or a small framed gift. Try it on a watercolor Christmas card. For more trees, see how to paint a tree and birch trees, which look lovely against snow. The light and shadow ideas carry over to painting shadows and highlights in any medium.
