Color in the Snow

         Snow naturally lends itself to black and white (or possibly grey and white), and yet here are three artists who have used full color to depict their snowy scenes.

        First, last night’s snowstorm as illustrated in 1946 by Kawase Hasui (Japan, 1883-1957).  I’ve featured block prints by Hasui before, including an island (my favorite), some fruit, and another snow scene.  In this one I particularly love the lighted windows in the dusk, something I absolutely never tire of seeing in either real life or art.  As for the snow, one thing that’s interesting is that it’s not just white but a range of greys and blues, some really quite dark.  Even though we tend to think of snow and snowflakes as being white, it’s much more realistic for them to look grey under some circumstances, such as when they’re blocking the light from a lighter area.

        Next I have an urban scene by George G. Adomeit (Lithuania/USA, 1879-1967).  I love that the car places us in 1933, and Adomeit has used browns and warm greys which reinforces that sepia-toned sense of a vintage scene, even though I assume he had no such perspective at the time.  One of the most interesting things about this print is the use of textured paper.  In general textured paper is considered a problem because it prevents the block from printing cleanly, but in this case it works really well with the picture.  I also really like the way the broken fence in the foreground frames the scene both visually and from a storytelling perspective.

        And for a final piece I’ve got the majestic vista of a snowy landscape that dwarfs the human buildings, by Nina Sage (UK).  The buildings are warm browns against the huge cool grey and blue expanse of snow and ice.  I particularly like the way the lake (or fjord?) is depicted.  I previously shared a nuthatch by Sage.

        All three of these look to be multi-block prints with at least four colors, and certainly more for some.  Now, sometimes I feel like extra layers in block prints are unnecessary and gratuitous, complicating something that is remarkable precisely because of its simplicity - but in the case of these three pieces I do really like the subtle layers of detail that the extra colors add.

        And now I’ll soon have to stop admiring snow in art and go out to shovel snow in real life!

[Pictures: Snowstorm at Shiobara, color woodcut by Kawase Hasui, 1946 (Image from The Cleveland Museum of Art);

Back of Houses in Snow, color woodcut by George G. Adomeit, 1933 (Image from The Cleveland Museum of Art);

The Boathouse, linocut by Nina Sage (Image from VK Gallery).]