St. Francis Cathedral

While the sky is still wet, the snow covered boughs of the Evergreens are painted into the deep, blue field. Painting them now, ensures that the snowy edges will be soft. As this is done my brush picks up some of the sky color, allowing the snow to take on the hue of the reflected light from the night sky. As you read through my blog, please remember that you may click on the images to see enlargements.

Using several mixtures, in different proportions, of MUD (2 parts Ultramarine Blue + 1 part Alizarin Crimson) + Cadmium Orange + Cadmium Yellow Medium + White, construction begins on St. Francis Cathedral.

Snow, covering the roofs and flat surfaces of all the architectural details, is added with mixes of White + Ultramarine Blue.

Dentil molding cornices are a beautiful detail on the stone cathedral. First the entire surface of the cornice is painted dark, then the lighter “Teeth” are made.

The long shadow of the stately Evergreen tree on the left reaches out across the snow and up, onto the side of the building.

The Rose Window over the front entry of the Basilica was imported from Clermont-Ferrand in France. The stained glass that was originally washed in with a mix of Alizarin Crimson + Liquin Original is now dry, making it easier to paint the details of the window and snow.

The Bell Towers are illuminated on this clear, snowy Christmas Eve. The columns and arches are bathed in the warm light.

Moonlight dances out from behind the foreground Evergreen and over the snow. OPPSSSSSS! One mistake I can see already, the lanterns by the door are not in the correct perspective. I’ll DEFINITELY change that!

WHEW!!!! Painting all those tiny little architectural details is slow going. This is 2 day’s work compressed into one blog post. I didn’t like where I’d positioned the Christmas Star, it was too close to the Cathedral. So scraping it off with my painting knife, the sky was redone in that area. I saved all of the sky paint so I didn’t have to try to match the mixtures. I’ll put the Star of the Christ Child back in again later. Thank you for following along today! See you next time! With Warm Hugs,

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