Essential Supplies The items you will need to complete this scene are as follows:- Oil Paint   Cobalt Blue Payne’s Grey Transparent Brown Sepia Raw Sienna Ivory Black Titanium White Brushes   No.18 Georgian No.12 Georgian Filbert No.3 Dalon Rigger Painting Knife

For the sky wash I have done a mixture of Payne's grey and cobalt blue, here and there a little bit of white paint worked in. Now this initial period the sky looks a complete mess,  until I get my rag and start to work all the paint together scrubbing with the rag.  I'm smoothing all the paint in with a little bit more white here and there to form the clouds.  

Now for the background hill which is hardly visible but which is important as a backdrop, I've used Rowney transparent brown and a touch of sepia.  For all of these I used a No.18 Georgian brush.  Now it's time to start on the right-hand side of the trees, it's the same colour as the distant hills but a little bit darker as it's getting nearer.  

Once I had worked all the colour in adding a little bit of white here and there, again going to my cloth and work all this in to give a distant hazy effect to the tree line.  The left-hand trees are the same colours, but with more detail. So for this I also used a No.12 filbert and a No.3 Dalon rigger, pulling out a few twigs here and there with my sepia and Payne's grey. Now using my fingers this time, moving the paint around at the base of the trees giving a kind of hazy effect. 

Now it's time to come forward into the buildings.  Using mixtures of Rowney transparent brown, sepia, raw sienna and touches of black here and there for the dark sides of the buildings. For the roof line of the building, I used titanium white with a hint of cobalt blue here and there to add shadow into the snow. Don't forget those little verticals of fence down at the bottom of the buildings, for this I used my rigger brush.  For the building roof sticking out here and there from underneath the snow, I used transparent brown.  Now working further forward into the snow, using mixtures of cobalt blue into titanium white, as well as titanium white neat and touches of Payne's grey here and there. 

For the large foreground fence again with my No.12 filbert  and a mixture of sepia and transparent brown. Finally for the little bit of pond,  which is again my sky colour, a few twigs in the foreground using Payne's grey and my rigger brush and voila. If you are lucky enough to be on Daler-Rowney's Christmas card list, this will be their Christmas card this year, so the card will be going to stockists all over the world.

For all of the paintings that I am doing in oils as a mixer for my medium, I am using Daler-Rowney's painting medium and low odour thinners, and I just dip my brush into each before mixing my colour. Incidentally, the little blob of snow on top of the foreground fence is the first ever touch of a painting knife.