Winter painting is not any different than any other time of the year. It requires a few more preparations than the warmer climate. The first requirement is to compel yourself to go out and paint. On the 31st of Dec 2008, I went out to do the last painting of the year - the temperature was -16 with a 20km wind giving a wind chill in the -20s.
To go out and paint in this extreme means one thing and only one thing, you win over yourself and the next time it is easier to go and do the thing you love best, painting! Weather stops being a challenge when you challenge yourself.
Prepare and set your palette before you leave the house, if not, you will have an much difficulty squeezing tubes of paint with gloves and if you use your bare hands, it won't be long until your fingers are stiff and difficult to use. At sub zero it takes very little time until your fingers are not working right which then leads to all sorts of difficulties, quitting then rages in your mind. Think of canvas size, every second you save, is that much time less out there. Check every aspect of your equipment, the least little discouragement throws you off your creative exuberance. Canvas size, to me doesn't make any difference, the big ones take as long to paint as the smaller ones.
It is best to have a general idea where and what you are looking for so as to not waste any time, since in winter it is often easier to quit the whole idea because of the intense cold. -3 or -10 is not cold. just slightly uncomfortable. REMEMBER ONE THING, IF YOU FEEL COLD SEEPING IN YOUR BODY CORE, GET OUT OF THERE IMMEDIATELY!
Each person has their own preference for clothing, it is not a time to be stylish. Layers of woolen clothing, topped with windproof ski pants and a windproof down/exceptional fill jacket, heavy winter boots and wool socks, a toque which is meant to keep the heat in. Gloves and mitts, I use both, the hand with the mitt is my rag hand (I use only rags, paper towels are too difficult to manage, for me in extreme cold ) this hand has a wool mitt in a leather mitt). Most of the time I do not use a glove on my brush hand, because from early November I start to condition my left hand to be tough to the cold, by not wearing a glove on my walk or shoveling snow, or anything else I may be doing outside.
Hand warmers are available at Canadian Tire where the hunting gear is - they are good, I have one and I also have a heat sink belt, activated in the microwave, which in very, very cold January days I may put on. All of the above is before you leave the house, so it requires a bit of thinking to ensure you have forgotten nothing. You can take a thermos, but I never do, I find I really don't have time to drink, since speed in execution of the painting is the primary goal.
Painting outside in the winter is not noodling time, it is fast broad strokes, paint loaded with medium for maximum slide, lots of rags for wipe outs, little or no drawing, suggesting large shapes and the search for complete simplicity. It really is a dance; you ! the universe, all your equipment ready for the absolute joy of being there doing what no one but you can do, creating a masterpiece of our Canadian landscape, and winning over yourself. It is an honour to be out there on a good nose running cold Canadian winter's day. That's what painters have always done.
J. Allison Robichaud.
January 2009
J. Allison Robichaud is an accomplished plein air painter who has earned the respect of fellow artists and fine art collectors alike, across Canada. He has had 24 solo exhibitions and has participated in some of Canada's most prestigious art symposiums.Allison Robichaud is an elected member of the Institute of Figurative Arts (IFA) and author of "The Reflective Stepping Stones of a Painter. published in 2002. His landscapes and still life paintings are highly collected.
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