"Winter's Peak"

5 x 7"

Oil on canvas board

Here's another small, quick landscape painting inspired by the recent cold and snowy weather. I heard today that last month was officially the coldest December in the UK since records began. Ouch! At least the nights are drawing out now. Whether or not winter has peaked or not remains to be seen though.

This is the western end of the Ochil Hills where the two summits of Dumyat dominate the horizon and rise up suddenly from the flat plains of the Forth Valley below. The westerly summit is called Castle Law, which is shown in the painting; to the right is the gully that divides it from the summit of Dumyat proper.

I never cease to be awed by the beauty of these hills or the way their appearance can change depending on the time of day or the season. I think they are especially majestic in winter when covered in snow like this - it feels like a real luxury to have them virtually on my doorstep. Painting them was very enjoyable and, once again, I feel myself working up to doing a larger landscape at some point soon.

I'm quite pleased with how this one turned out. It's one of those paintings you need to stand a few feet away from to really enjoy. I was careful to paint contrasting tones on either side of the peak - cool blues and greys on the shadow side versus the warmer white and browns on the sunny side. You might be surprised at how far off pure white the brightest highlights are. They're actually a mix of titanium white with small amounts of red oxide and Japanese yellow (from Lefranc). I could have gone brighter still but didn't need to in the end. Keeping something of your value range in reserve is always a good idea I think.