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How To Paint A Dramatic Winter Night Landscape
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
- Balancing stark light-dark contrasts
- Using a simple value sketch for compositional strength
- Learn how to mix and use very dark colors
About This Lesson
If you’ve ever had the good fortune to witness bright full-moon light on snow, you know the magic wonder of winter nights.
The most difficult thing about painting a winter night scene is balancing the bright light values of the snow, with the deep darks in the surrounding landscape. For the most part, night scenes are based on low-key value arrangements. But, with moonlight on snow, there is a good bit of very light value as well. Too much contrast and the painting can fall apart.
The painting lesson uses a simple value composition sketch that defines the major shapes that will form the structure of the composition and determine what values will go where.