Sunset in Winter.
When you painted autumn landscapes, you thought, no doubt, that the world was more beautiful in October than at any other season. Perhaps it seemed to you that the cold, snow-covered earth could never be so interesting to paint.
Look at this winter picture. The sky is bright and the distant trees look violet. Did you ever notice that the snow at sunset does not seem to be white as you look across it to the horizon? If you hold a sheet of white paper in your hand and glance from that across the snow-covered fields at sunset, you will see that the whiteness of the snow has changed to violet-gray. Sometimes, too, the snow seems to be tinted by the rosy light of the sunset. As you study out-of-door objects, you will find that their colors appear different at different times of the day, or as they are near you or far away.
Paint a winter sunset. Try to see and to paint truthfully the color of distant trees, snow-covered ground, a far-off steeple or tower, or a tree near at hand.
A Sunset Picture in Values.
We can show with black crayons, with charcoal, or with brush and ink many pictures of out-of-doors that are rich in color. Even a sunset sky can be shown in grays, so that we will think of the lovely colors that the grays, or values, express.
Here is our winter sunset, shown in values. You will remember that by values we mean the different degrees of light and dark used to express color. Compare the two sunset pictures. The light gray-violet of the snow is shown in a light gray or neutral value in the picture on this page. The trees are very much darker, and the sky is neither as light as the snow nor as dark as the trees. The little rabbit makes a dark spot in the snow, and the foreground—that part of the picture that seems to be nearest—is white. You see that it has taken about four values to express the colors seen.
Draw in values the sunset picture you painted in the lesson on [page 8]. Which of all the colors used do you think should be shown in darkest value? Which in lightest? Make your picture large, and use charcoal, crayon, or brush and ink. Then with your finder select that part of your picture which you like best. Cut out this part, and mount it neatly.