Fueled by Clouds & Coffee: A Rare White Christmas

12/25/17 Our neighbor's weeping cypress

Gray and gloomy Christmases are common here; wet ones are even more common. A white Christmas in Seattle, though, is rare. I can remember only a few as a child, and even fewer as an adult. It started snowing late-afternoon on Christmas Eve, but the flakes were so tiny that I skeptically assumed they wouldn’t amount to much. You can imagine what a treat it was to wake this morning to several inches of snow.

After exchanging a few gifts, Greg and I bundled up and took a walk around our neighborhood – he with his camera; I with my sketchbook. All the ordinary trees I see every day looked magical when covered with snow, especially the graceful weeping cypresses.

12/25/17 The same tree as above from the opposite side.

The temperature was about 33 F degrees (0.5 C) and climbing, and clumps of snow were already falling off the trees and rooftops. We went back home to warm up, but after lunch I was still in the mood to make one more sketch before all the snow melted away. I was too lazy to put my boots back on. I just walked into the bathroom and stood by the sink, where I had a perfect view (top of page) of the tree I had sketched earlier from the opposite side (at left). (I used this same lazy strategy to sketch this tree last February, too!)

Technical note: I’ve been enjoying using the tan Stillman & Birn Nova for drawing people and indoor scenes, so I used it for a couple of these trees, but I think I prefer the gray one for snow scenes – the white seems to show up better, and it matches the flat gray of the sky.

I hope you’re enjoying a wonderful Christmas, whether it’s white, gray, wet or sunny!