A plein air painting completed on the Platte River near Littleton, Colorado, featuring live duck models.

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Going into winter, I decided to challenge myself to paint outdoors as much as possible. I fell in love with the winter palette of icy blues and warm accents. I made gear investments, including heated gloves and down jackets. I even started researching how to grow more visceral fat to stay warmer for longer in the cold. It was a whole goal I nerded out over, and then Colorado had the warmest winter on record. Most days felt like t-shirt weather, which was increasingly concerning as the weeks went by.
This particular day, though, was a gift because it finally snowed, and I’d get to see if my heated gloves would do the trick. My previous cold-weather attempts always started ok, but I’d start to get that tingle in my fingers, and pretty soon they’d go totally numb. You can’t paint pastels with numb fingers. I dropped and broke too many pieces before throwing it in. I’m so happy to report that I can now finish a plein air painting in one session in the snow. That is really all I wanted. Now, this painting is small, but a win is a win.
I focused on a couple of mallards that stayed nearby throughout my painting session. I don’t usually paint animals from life, but these ducks were easy to work with. They seemed completely at ease, ignoring my presence. It’s fascinating to see how they can spend their entire day in icy water.

A Winter Pair

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