Plein Air in the Winter

Some recently found tips!

Nov 27, 2024

The benefits of drawing outdoors are endless. The main one for me just now is to keep a piece alive and fresh. There’s just something magical that happens when you’re outdoors with the elements, what you hear, smell, all the sense are involved and can inform our choices. When drawing outdoors, our brains react and learn on the go, making many quick decisions, such as what aspect of the landscape we’ll focus on, which colours to use and which materials will work best. In very cold conditions especially, everything needs to be put down quickly. And I quite like that sense of urgency in a piece.

Last week I went out several times with temperatures gradually dropping from 2C to -2C (snowy and freezing). It was quite an experience and I wanted to share some of the things I learnt. So here are my top tips.

Get to know your surroundings
Since I started walking every day as an essential part of my art practice, I’ve noticed the seasons change and so many details about my local landscape. Truth is I just wouldn’t have noticed them if it weren’t for these daily, regular “visits”. During these walks, I like to ask myself the question “what if”, like “what would this landscape look like if it was under 20cm snow?”. Near us is a beautiful old church. I had always wondered what it would look like in the snow. And had often thought it’d be a great place to sketch. So this past week, when we got snow, I knew that was a place I was committed to painting in the snow. Make a mental list of your favourite spots. This will allow you to bounce and make plans as soon as you hear that there’s snow coming!
Be safe
If you’re going out solo, think of places you feel safe in. This could be somewhere local but it could also be a place that has facilities like warm spaces to retreat to and a WC. Here in Yorkshire, we have little villages which are super sweet to draw and there are often welcoming places such as coffee shops/libraries/churches not too far away to warm up in (which can also be great landing places to finish drawing projects while it’s fresh in our minds). Within 30mins drive, we also have English Heritage gardens and National Trust parks which have lovely grounds with teams of gardeners and coffee shops too. Take a few minutes to make a mental (or physical) list of those safe places near you so that when the opportunity strikes, you know where to go! But worth noting though that if you’re specifically interested in snowy conditions, you may not be able (or advised) to drive at all. Another reason why close by is great.
Dress warmly
This is obvious but when you’ve made the effort to get out and would like to have stayed longer, every extra layer of clothing counts! Wear a warm hat, thermals, warm waterproof boots, a warm coat, all the things us humans wear to keep us warm. I used 2 sets of gloves, one set of extra warm ones for the journey and walk to my spot of choice, then I shifted to fingerless ones to draw/paint. You don’t have to do this, I just found my fingers got very cold, very quickly in the fingerless gloves and this can stop me from having a good time!! A flask with a warm drink/soup can also help you keep going.
Keep your materials simple
Grab a few basics and go!! Basics are all you need! A few contrasting pencils are fab to quickly mark the lines and take notes of the landscape.
When you’re out in the cold, you need to know immediately how you will set up your kit to get drawing as quickly as possible so keeping things super simple is ideal. In freezing conditions, to avoid overwhelm, I recommend only taking dry materials (pencils, Neocolor IIs, pastels, charcoals all these are ideal).
Of course, your goal may be to experiment with how paints react in harsh elements (it was a lot of fun for me last week!) and what they do together… in which case, consider how freezing conditions will make the page/canvas freeze up and how it will become liquid again when you get back into warmth (your home or your car). This experimentation can be thrilling but be prepared for the potential mess!! So have newspapers on hand to lay these on etc. Some of my watercolour sketches last week iced up on the paper and adding layers and definition with my beloved Neocolor II pastels became impossible. They just skidded like ice skates. Challenging but such a fun experience!
I was told in my recent co-creating meet that you can add vodka to your water brush (instead of the water) because vodka doesn’t freeze but I’ve yet to trial that.
If you’re very keen to use watercolour or gouache, something I’ve got into the habit of doing is to add colour to my sketchbook pages prior to leaving my studio (it can be with left-over paint from previous projects). I let these pages dry in advance so I’m prepared to seize these opportunities. This can help also overcome that blank page fear when outdoors in harsh conditions and can save crucial time.
Keep moving
When it’s very, very cold, I find it helpful to walk around first as I’m considering possible composition and scale, then once I’ve found a spot I like, I settle and aim to draw really quickly. Even then though, I need to keep moving my body. At one point last week, I put my tools down, stretched my legs and came back to my little station. In warmer weather, it’s great to take a foam pad, cushion, plastic bag or a blanket to sit down on and spread out but in the cold, I found that I just couldn’t afford to stop moving. Retrospectively, having an easel might have helped with this. Always be prepared to finish a drawing/painting at home, never feel you NEED to finish out in the cold… the beauty of not going far from home is you can return later. Keep moving!
Keep your sketchbook practice in mind
Composition, colour and scale are all vital in anybody’s work when approaching landscape and what better time to do this than when outdoors! Approaching plein air with an experimental lens is so fun! Sometimes we are happy with our plein air drawing. Sometimes we’re not! Remember there’s a fair chance your inner critic will come say hi and tell you this exercise is completely pointless. All the actions that add up to building a landscape, a scene, the scale of details are all worth exploring. Drawing will always help develop these skills (until you REALLY are too cold). The important thing is keep up a practice and keep showing up. And by being outdoors, you will hear and smell and feel so much more than just looking at a photograph of that single second. That experience in itself is so worth our time! I remember Emma Carlisle set herself a challenge last winter to draw in her sketchbook only within a specific amount of paces of her home (I think it was 30?). She recommended checking first how far that takes you (it isn’t that far) and thinking outside the box, she said “even those weeds you walk past everyday are beautiful if you show down and look”. Setting yourself a challenge like this can really help to keep in mind the sketchbook practice as a whole rather than one specific finished piece that must be perfect. Aim to keep going and to make quantity, quality will come.
Consider asking pals to tag along
Over the past year I have met up with a few artist friends to sketch together and it’s always been very encouraging. These tend to be in summer months but I’d love to extend this to winter too. Going out solo is good but if I’m being honest, sometimes having to overcome that inner critic can be intense and exhausting. Going out with a friend can lighten spirits, you can be more relaxed about your work and enjoy the chat, even if the artwork isn’t fantastic. You can learn from each other’s approach and geek over materials. Also, it can be safer. Consider searching for art groups near you and you might be surprised! Life as an artist can be solitary and investing in actual other humans is a good idea!
Any tips?
Do you have any tips? Any recommendations we could all learn from? Drawing in the cold is a fairly recent experience for me so I’d love to learn from others. Have you painted with vodka?
A January Challenge?
I’m considering setting myself a plein air sketchbook challenge in January and would love for you to join! What do you think? More on this soon.

Plein Air in the Winter

Some recently found tips!

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