"A Heavy Load" 24" X 45" Fluid Acrylic © April M Rimpo

A Heavy Load  24" X 45" acrylic painting © April M Rimpo

A Heavy Load

Acrylic

24" X 45" painting
in a 27” X 48” silver frame

Visiting a farm to purchase some fresh food can also be inspiring as an artist.  I was there during apple picking time and the trees were loaded with fruit. This tree leaned heavily under the weight of the fruit but was strong and looked like it had withstood years of producing food.  The hard work done by farmers to continually work for the betterment of all.  Like this tree they have taken on a heavy load of their own. This painting acknowledges their pledge to us and to the earth. We have a lot to be thankful for.

Here you can see April painting two parts of this painting

Interested in April's artwork or taking one of her classes? Consider becoming a Studio Friend by signing up for her twice-monthly email. April segments her newsletter so you can select topics you'd like to hear about when you sign up. For those who Select the General Interest topic you will receive emails about twice-monthly. If you are only interested in classes, then the emails will be much less frequent discussing upcoming classes and how to register. Thank you for your support of April M Rimpo Art.

Contact April and see more of her art on her website

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

"Busy Night Out", a 32 X 16" Watercolor

Busy Night Out  © April M Rimpo

Busy Night Out

Watercolor, Varnished
32" X 16"

Mounted, Varnished and Framed in a 35" X 19" Brushed Silver Frame

SOLD through HorseSpirit Arts Gallery's

In Busy Night Out a place is shown where people are arriving for a night out. My goal is for you to define the stories about where these families and solo explorers are going and what they might do.  I'd love to hear your stories.

Varnished watercolor paintings are protected from the elements, so no glazing is used with this painting.  I think you'll find varnished paintings are more approachable and enticing.

Here are additional nighttime paintings by April:

• Night Reflections (12" X 18") - Moon over the water
• Distant Glow (16" X 44") - early sunset 
• Nighttime Stroll (30" X 24")and Quiet Times (11" X 14")
• Nighttime Glitter - 5" X 7" painting of the Eiffel Tower

You can see the student paintings from one of my Nighttime painting workshops here.

Interested in April's artwork or taking one of her classes? Consider becoming a Studio Friend by signing up for her twice-monthly email. April segments her newsletter so you can select topics you'd like to hear about when you sign up. For those who Select the General Interest topic you will receive emails about twice-monthly. If you are only interested in classes, then the emails will be much less frequent discussing upcoming classes and how to register. Select as many topics as sound of interest. Thank you for your support of April M Rimpo Art.

Contact April and see more of her art on her website

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

"Main Street" 9" X 12" Acrylic on Canvas

April M Rimpo standing under her painting, Main Street.
See the little red dot on the tag? It was sold at the reception.

Main Street by April M Rimpo

Main Street

9" X 12" painting

14" X 17" frame

$360

SOLD 

Through the Howard County Arts Council Gallery
8510 High Ridge Rd, Ellicott City, MD 21043

Re-Create Ellicott City Benefit Exhibit

July 9 - August 17, 2018

How can you help Ellicott City artists on the road to recovery? Visit the Howard County Center for the Arts to see our Paint It! Ellicott City show and the Re-Create Ellicott City Benefit Exhibit. A percentage of sales goes to the Re-Create Ellicott City Grant that will provide funds to artists and non-profits recovering from the May 27th flood. April is contributing 75% of the sale of this painting.

• Contant April here

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Inspirations through Travel : Near and Far

I'm often asked where I get my inspirations for my paintings and whether I ever struggle with what to paint.  Ideas for paintings have never been a problem for me because I am so fascinated by the world around me. Landscapes, Cityscapes, and figures captured during everyday observation help tell the story of a place.  I have learned that I love sharing these stories.  Even if you see a very different story in my painting, that is great too. My story may have been my inspiration, but your story is what really matters. 

Recently I became aware of Jen Reviews' blog that includes the 100 Best Things to Do in Maryland.  Reading the list I thought the places I've visited might be an interesting example of the variety of places that compel me to paint. Don't miss the link to Jen Reviews' link near the end of this post.

Egrets' Haven by April M Rimpo
7" X 5" Acrylic on Aquabord

Some have been as far away as New Zealand, Guatemala, France, Norway, and others right here in Maryland, where I live.  My little painting on Aquabord, titled Egrets' Haven was inspired by a visit to, Assateague State Park, which is quite close to Ocean City, Maryland.

You've likely hear of Assateague because of the wild horses that live there. I was lucky to get photographs of the horses while there and am sure that one of these days they will appear in a painting.

Tall Ship Gloria by April M Rimpo

Even this painting of the Colombian tall ship, Gloria, was inspired here in Maryland at the Baltimore Inner Harbor, during Sailibration, an event held annually to commemorate the War of 1812. More than 40 tall ships visit the Inner Harbor to participate in the celebration. In the lower left of this painting, near the bow of the ship, you get a sense of the crowds that come to visit these beautiful ships each year.

Tall Ship

Watercolor

23" X 10"

in a 29" X 16" frame with a white mat

Contact April Regarding Purchase

B & O Caboose by April M Rimpo

Historic Ellicott City, sometimes called simply Old Ellicott City, is a quaint town that preserves its history down to the color of paint used on the buildings in town. This painting is a view down Main Street showing the clock by the Train Station Museum, where a B & O caboose is on display. The real caboose no longer rides the rails, but it seemed only fitting to transport it back in history.

B & O Caboose

Original Sold, but
Prints Available at
HorseSpirit Arts Gallery, 8090 Main Street, Ellicott City, Maryland

Spring by the River by April M Rimpo

A little over 20 miles from Ellicott City is the Brighton Dam Azalea Garden in Brookeville, MD 20833. Nestled on a hill adjacent to a reservoir is this garden that comes to life each Spring, just in time for Mother's Day. I visit it every few years to capture the gorgeous blooms in a wide variety of color. 

Spring by the River

Fluid Acrylic

24" X 36"

Original Sold

Prints Available - Contact April

A Clutter of Kayaks by April M Rimpo

Traveling toward Annapolis, the capital of Maryland, you come across many waterways and small parks where you can sit and relax or meet up with friends to kayak on the river.

A Clutter of Kayaks

Fluid Acrylic

20" X 36"

Contact April to Purchase

Summer Breezes by April M Rimpo

Summer Breezes is inspired by the Annapolis City Dock, which is located near the Annapolis capitol building and not far from the Naval Academy.  As the name implies, this is a nice place to sit on a bench to relax and take in the sights.

Summer Breezes

Fluid Acrylic

11" X 14"

Available at HorseSpirit Arts Gallery

I hope you enjoyed this small tour, through my eyes and art, of just a few of the places you can visit in Maryland.  

If you are interested in learning about more places to visit, take a look at this Jen Reviews article, 100 Best Things to Do in Maryland.  I've only been to a few of these locations, but agree they deserve to be included.  This list now has me intrigued to explore other regions of Maryland to check out more places to see and enjoy; and just maybe paint. 

Click here to Contact April

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

"The Firehouse" 14" X 11" Fluid Acrylic on Aquabord™

The Firehouse by April M Rimpo

The coming of fall is always a time to celebrate in paintings. Fall colors complement the brick and natural stone in Ellicott City.  The yellow building of The Firehouse Museum stands proud in this historic town.

When I decided to paint scenes from Ellicott City there was a wealth of material begging for attention.  The hard part was deciding what to paint first.

You can tell the people of Ellicott City love their town. The old town center is beautifully maintained and, as you can see in The Firehouse, American flags fly out front of several shops. 

Now a museum, the firehouse was first built in 1889 and was the first firehouse in Howard County. According to the Howard County website is was used after 1923 as a meeting hall, county office space, and a library. It is located at the intersection of Main Street and Church Road.

The Firehouse

Fluid Acrylic on Aquabord™

14" X 11"

$375

Original painting SOLD
Prints available through HorseSpirit Arts Gallery

Other paintings of Ellicott City can be found here:

• B and O Caboose
• Ellicott City II
• Welcome Since 1772

Aquabord is a trademark of Ampersand

"Summer Breezes" 11" X 14" watercolor and fluid acrylic

Summer Breezes by April M Rimpo

Summer Breezes

Watercolor and Fluid Acrylic

Brushed Silver Frame

Available to purchase on April's website. The standard gallery commission will be provided to HorseSpirit Arts Gallery owners are they work to recover their business following the May 28, 2018 Ellicott City Flood.

Recently included in April's solo exhibit "Contemporary Landscapes" at Columbia Art Center you can now find this painting at HorseSpirt Arts Gallery in Historic Ellicott City, Maryland. 

You might have noticed that Summer Breezes was done in watercolor and fluid acrylic. It started in watercolor only and matured quickly. The result looked too washed out for my liking and sat in my studio for months. Recently, I pulled it out of a stack of unfinished paintings and decided to work on it some more. 

I decided that the first thing I would try was adding a very dilute layer of acrylic over the sky and water. I wanted to see whether bumping up the color intensity of the painting would speak to me. Well it worked. A combination of Cerulean blue and a cobalt violet blend I had been using for another painting made things start happening, so I immediately added some Cadmium Orange (hue) in the water reflections to make those more intense as well.

Those changes were enough so I printed out a new copy of my photo reference and went to work adding in details and intensifying the value contrast throughout the painting. There is nothing like a change in value to add dimension to a painting.

I also pushed the color in a few areas to add life and to provide more color balance throughout the piece. It is surprising how sometimes it only takes a couple hours to really turn around a painting.

Contact April here

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Rimpo 2016 All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

"Country II" 12" X 14" fluid acrylic

Country II by April M Rimpo

Country II

12" X 14" fluid acrylic

$395

Available for Purchase Now

I live in an area with a few farms and some new housing developments. Before the developments take over the remaining farms, I periodically take photographs of the farms. They are so tied to nature and the environment I hope they don't all disappear. These farms definitely are part of what drew my husband and I to live in this area. 

Often I spend a lot of time planning out a painting and deciding on the color scheme that will convey what I feel about a place. However, this painting was spur of the moment. I had printed out the photograph some time ago.  I found it when rummaging through a pile of similar photos on my studio desk. I happened to also have one of my "paper gallery wrapped canvases"* sitting on my desk so I decided to go with the flow, grabbed the "canvas", and started to paint.  I really had no plan when I started.

I put some random patterning on the tree and grass areas to get some texture on the paper.  The patterns are done using household items with interesting raised areas and soft acrylic paint.  Once the patterning was almost dry, I started with my fluid acrylics. Because they were a little damp, the color from the soft acrylic bled slightly, integrating the colors. 

I was feeling inspired by some oil paintings I had seen recently and decided to start with blues on the barn, coming back in with the reds once the blues had dried.  I'm a bit impatient and spontaneous once I start painting, so although my initial thought was to let the blue dry thoroughly, I didn't.  Much like the background patterns, a little color blending occurred. This means the edges are NOT all hard and I ended up with a touch of purple on a barn that still appears weathered red. My spontaneity paid off.  

The trees were also painted quickly by applying the lighter yellows and leaf green and then adding in phthalo blue here and there while the paint was wet in order to create shadows and shape to the trees. By this point I wasn't really paying much attention to the photograph, just adding tree shapes and colors that I felt created a vibrant interesting scene. 

I had masked off parts of the horse to remind me not to paint over him with the trees. I have to do little tricks like this because when I am "in the painting zone" I can easily forget important things like the horse and before I know it the horse is gone.

* I stretch watercolor paper, generally Arches 140 lb cold press paper, over a stretcher bar and staple it to the back.  To stretch the paper I wet the paper first, just like you would do when stretching a sheet and stapling it to a painting board.  You let it dry thoroughly before painting. (Note: I usually create the painting first and then stretch it over the stretcher bars, but occasionally I stretch the paper first.)

Other rural landscape paintings by April can be seen at the links below.

• Floral Wonderland - SOLD
• Simple Life
• Rolling Hills - SOLD
• Looking Up - SOLD
• Springtime - Lost in Flood
• Relaxing on Top
• Historic Train Station
• Under the Canopy
• Spring by the River - SOLD

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo 2016 All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

Featured Art - Looking Up

Looking Up, a 36" X 40" fluid acrylic by April M Rimpo

Here is a change of pace for my series of Featured Artwork on display at RE/MAX Advantage Realty. Looking up celebrates a beautiful day in Autumn after the leaves have changed their color by before they fall. This painting is a great way to bring a bit of the outdoors into your home. 

I enjoyed this painting while it was hanging in my living room over the fireplace. It looked great on the brick wall and really let me relax and be taking away, up through the trees to sore wherever my imagination took me.  

If you need a breath of fresh air in your home, perhaps Looking Up is just what you need.

Looking Up

36" X 40" fluid acrylic

varnished and framed in a brushed silver frame

$3175

Original:

36in x 40in Looking Up $3,175.00 USD

If you would like to see the painting, you can stop by RE/MAX Advantage Realty, 729 East Pratt Street, Suite 100, Baltimore MD 21202, and say you are there to see April Rimpo's artwork. All purchases are made through April, so contact her if you have questions or would like to meet at RE/MAX. 

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo 2014 All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution, but all other uses are prohibited.

"Catching Up" 10" X 24" acrylic gallery wrapped

Catching Up by April M Rimpo

In Catching Up the cyclists pop from a landscape of geometric shapes. The trees, grass, and street were each simplified to an elongated rhombus. The masses of leaves became simple circles and even the texture in the grass is based on tiny hexagons. This abstracted background acts as a foil to the cyclists who speed by during a bicycle race.

Catching Up

Fluid Acrylic

$575 - SOLD

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo 2015 All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

#HoCoArt

#aprilmrimpoart

#Maryland

C Street Fest on September 19th in Laurel Maryland #CstSept19 #localartist

I and three other members of the Laurel Art Guild will be included in the artists participating in the C Street Fest and Block Party!  Come sharing the festivities from 11AM to 3PM on Saturday, September 19th.  We'll be outside C Street Gallery.

We'll have original paintings, giclee prints, cards, bookmarks all created from original artwork.  I'll have several new cards for every day use and for the winter holidays.  Come join the fun.

New Cards based on April M Rimpo's original art

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution, but all other uses are prohibited.

#livemusic

Bucks be Here!

Three Bucks about to Depart from our Yard

You may remember that back in June I posted about a newborn fawn who was nestled in some tall grass in our yard for the day.  If you missed that post you can read it at A Sweet Addition to Our Neighborhood. We've not seen the fawn again and suspect Mom moved her to a more remote location.

The 2 Point Buck

This week it was the bucks turn to visit. One two-pointer and two three-pointer bucks roamed about our yard nibbling on our wild berries, the stalks from our Hosta flowers, new shoots of grass, and just about anything else that looked yummy. My husband and I noted how they did not mind us being in the windows watching them.  Much more at ease than the doe normally is when she wanders through.  

The Large of the 3 Point Bucks

Since they were clearly roaming about as a group it was obvious it is not yet breeding time, so no competition just yet.

Their sizes varied with one very frail looking 3 point and one larger, healthier 3 point.  The third deer, which we think is a 2 point (although there may have been a hint of a third point) was about the same size as the larger 3 point.  There were twins born in our area a few years ago, so we believe they must be the two 3-point bucks.

The Smallest Buck - But a 3 Point

I wanted to share my photos of these friendly bucks. Enjoy! And don't be surprised if you find them in a painting at some time in the future.




Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo

Kayaks 18" X 24" Acrylic on Watercolor Paper

Kayaks by April M Rimpo

Kayaks

Fluid Acrylic

18"X24" gallery wrapped

$1035, includes shipping within the United States

Original size in inches:

18X24 Gallery Wrap $1,035.00 USD

Kayaks is one of those paintings that has stewed in my brain for some time. I take a lot of photographs but certain ones continue to come back to me as something I need to paint, not want to paint but NEED to paint. The problem is I don't always know right away to go about it or what exactly it is that excites me about a scene.  Initially, it was just the color of the kayaks that drew me to photograph it, because color is very seductive. 

Now, I think it was more than that. I'm also drawn to the contrast of the curves of the boats - both the kayak shape and the way they were arrayed by the dock almost like they were huddled in conversation - compared to the linear form of the dock. 

I did some editing from the photo, removing some extraneous boats from the background, altering some colors to improve the color harmony, and intensifying the color of the water in the foreground. But the heart of the painting, the colors and shapes of the kayaks were retained from the original scene.

I decided to start by creating a very loose wash of the foreground on Yupo, since the paints mix and blend in such wonderful ways on this plastic paper. Then I did a monoprint of that onto my hot press watercolor paper.  This was a new process for me inspired by the Yupo to Yupo monoprints we created in Mark Mehaffey's workshop. I thought the hot press paper, which has a smooth finish, would pick up the paint more evenly than more textural cold press paper that I normally use.  I had to spray water on the hot press surface after making the monoprint to allow me to make the paint spread more evenly across the foreground and to lighten some areas where the intensity was too extreme. Overall, this approach added some excitement to the underpainting.

I also sprayed the top half of the paper so I could let some of the paint spread over the entire surface creating some water texture in the middle of the painting and some nice muted colors in the sky.  Once dry, I transferred the drawing to the painting and continued to develop the rest of the painting with brushes. This was an exciting way of working since I had to pull out the shapes of the boats and dock from the underpainting. It was quite an interesting transformation requiring several layers of paint in some areas to get the final appearance I desired.

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo Art

"Historic Train Station" a 16" x 20" fluid acrylic

Historic Train Station by April M. Rimpo

Historic Train Station

16" X 20" Fluid Acrylic on Watercolor Paper

Mounted on a 2" Deep-Cradle Wood Panel

$775

Original Available in April's Spreesy Store

Prints available through HorseSpirit Arts Gallery

I've been wanting to paint this train station, now museum, for a while. However I've struggled with how to make it look interesting since the building and cobblestone were all similar in color. The front "courtyard" is a large expanse that seemed empty in my photographs.

My first design concept was to transform the scene back to the late 1800s when the station was still in operation. This resulted in the addition of the horse drawn carriages in the distance and the woman in 1880s clothing, but it still needed more color and something to fill that courtyard area.

Recently I decided I could add some potted flowers to the foreground, which not only adds some needed white, but also adds some brighter yellows and a place to repeat and emphasize the reds from the roof and distant building. I placed the flowers so they introduced an interesting curved shape, breaking up the large expanse in front of the building.

I'm so glad I took my time thinking about the design of this painting. I believe the result is far better than my original plan. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

"Spring by the River" a 24" X 36" fluid acrylic

Spring by the River by April M Rimpo

Spring by the River

24" X 36"

Fluid Acrylic on Paper

Mounted on 2" Deep-cradled, Wood Panel  

Original SOLD

12" X 18" giclee print on watercolor paper - coming soon

To purchase archival prints on watercolor paper or on canvas contact April

Most years the Azaleas are in full bloom by Mother's Day in Maryland. I know that is two months from now, but I am ready. The Azaleas stand proud in my new painting Spring by the River. The white Azaleas are shaded with pale pastel shades of blue, violet, and pink, while the red blossoms vary from orange to hot pink and magenta. I have a bit of a weakness for the white blooms with pink centers.

A fellow artist in our area has a show opening this weekend and I know she has paintings that include scenes from a local Azalea garden. We have not had an awful lot of snow this year, probably a little less than normal, but the cold has everyone I know extremely ready for winter to end. Well I do know a few friends who wish they lived in Maine, you know who you are, and are probably walking around in the 0 - 20 degree Fahrenheit days without a jacket.  

I have Spring fever, as you have noticed in my last several blog posts, so enjoy Spring through my paintings until it finally finds it way to our doorsteps.

"Enjoying Tongue Row" a 20" X 16" fluid acrylic

Enjoying Tongue Row by April M Rimpo

Enjoying Tongue Row

Fluid Acrylic

Mounted on 20" X 16" X 2" deep

cradled wood panel
$775

Not far from my home is an old mill town called Ellicott City. The town was established by the Ellicott family, thus the name.  Tongue Row is a section of stone granite houses originally rented to mill workers by the owner Ann Tongue. Now these houses are a set of boutiques including a cafe and a silversmith.

A Farmer's Market is held by Tongue Row once a month seasonally. In addition to fresh produce, musicians serenade the event, and artisans sell their wares.

It's a lovely spot to stop and relax on the benches. 

 

#HoCoArts

"Lit by the Moon" 24" X 18" gallery wrapped fluid acrylic on paper

Lit by the Moon by April M Rimpo

Since night scenes are not something I’ve done a lot of, I wanted to be sure to capture the colors I used in Lit by the Moon.

Lit by the Moon

Fluid Acrylic

24" X 18" gallery wrapped and varnished paper

$995 for Original Painting

Options:

Original 24"X18" $995.00 USD  Print 14"X11" on watercolor paper $85.00 USD

 

Prices includes shipping within the United States*

* Contact April regarding shipments outside the United States

All are fluid acrylic except for:

Indigo blue – which is a Da Vinci watercolor pigment - and Coral, which is a Daniel Smith watercolor paint.  Both I mixed with Golden “Fluid Matte Medium” to make my own fluid acrylic.  Daniel Smith Coral is my go to color these days.  It makes wonderful shades of lavender when mixed with just about any blue.  When mixed with blue and yellow, you get great grays.

The Da Vinci fluid acrylics used are:

·        Transparent Raw Sienna

·        Quinacridone Gold (very sparingly)

·        Quinacridone Burnt Orange

·        Pthalo Blue

·        French Ultra Marine Blue (adding some Daniel Smith French Ultra Blue watercolor when I mix with Quinacridone Burnt Orange to create the nearly black darks

·        Titanium White (used mixed with the yellow pigments in the last layer of darks to recover a few of the illusion of clouds when I neglected to leave some of these open.)

I started with masking fluid “sprayed” on the white paper, which becomes the falling snow.  After an initial pale wash I added tiny wisps of tree branches and bits of snow that had stuck to the yet to be painted trees. I also added some masking fluid where I wanted the lit side of evergreens and bushes in the foreground.  And let’s not forget the moon was added in mask at this point so the yellow glow is retained.  I left some openings in the mask on the moon to allow darker hues to create the craters on the moon. Some kosher salt was applied to the bushes in the front in hopes of adding some texture to the snow as a foreground detail. I say "in hopes" because normally I test pigments with salt to be sure the desired granulation will occur, but the salt was a quick decision and timing the addition of salt is critical.

A second medium intensity wash was added to further vary the colors across the painting and to begin to make darker areas in the sky.  I left some of the yellow shining through, especially around the moon since I wanted the moon to glow. When dry this layer was followed by more masking of branches to give the illusion that different branched catch different amounts of the moon light. I added a small amount of dark on top of the dry salt in the foreground bushes to add some variety.  I actually had forgotten to remove the salt and knew I likely lost any subtle granulation in the snow.  These things happen.

Darker combinations of the blues were added in the third layer.  This is also where I used the pale mixture of white and yellow to retain some lighter cloud areas here in there behind the trees. There is a church steeple in the distance and I used some of the light yellow mix around the steeple so it wouldn’t be totally lost.  The steeple was inspired by St Paul’s Church and has the characteristic lighter stripes used to accent the architecture on the steeple, but I intentionally muted these at a later stage so the painting is about the falling snow and the steeple is there for those who really examine the painting in detail.

The trees were adding in dark and medium dark hues while most of the masking was still in place so the limbs catching the light were preserved.  At the end the mask was removed and just a few spots required a dab of darker paint here and there to integrate the branches.
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