Sheyenne Valley Snow Day

 

The road was snow covered as my son Cooper(age 5) and I set out to find something in the Sheyenne River Valley to paint. Cooper had a sketch diary and his watercolors. I had both of those, but I was really looking forward to my 7th ever oil painting.
 

This was my set-up.
 

This was after a thin block-in.
 

Here is the final painting (Oil on canvas board, 8"x10"). Elapsed time was about 1:45. It was about 18*F and I had to move my pochade box under the liftgate of my Saturn Vue to try to limit how much snow was falling on my palette and painting surface.

We lunched in Ft. Ransom, and then started back. Originally, I was hoping to have enough time for a second painting or at least a watercolor sketch. But the snow on the road was now 4" to 7" deep and it took all my attention to drive. Cooper was tired and fell asleep. I carefully drove back to main roads and then headed home.

Still counts as a great day!