"Snowy Evening in England"
16" x 20" acrylic painting on canvas
Artist: Dale Wolf
I fell for the small towns in countryside England during my many trips to Europe. I sketched as fast as I could on every trip. They are almost like stepping into a Charles Dickens novel. The chimney dust accumulating on the sides of buildings is older than America.
I have never let loose of this painting. It hangs in my studio. It has twice been awarded, most recently being selected in the 2017 acrylics competition Light Books for publication in their AcrylicWorks 5: Bold Values!
This painting captures what I feel with every snowfall. Sitting warm inside, it is easy to forget the cold outside. But when you step out, magically there sits a carpet of pristine white covering all the defects that surround us.
Painting snow is no easy task. It is the reverse of painting a landscape where everything is lush green. Only now it is the absence of color that transforms all the defects around us with a blanket of white. Painting white and making it interesting is a real challenge to any artist.
Here I tried to capture the early snowfall. It sticks first on the cold pavement down below at street level. Then it accumulates on roof tops. So the pure white swipe across the middle paints the street. The homes are in shades of green, brown, gray and yellow. The brick chimneys capture the light while the gray sky holds its power over the scene.
