I started up this blog with the intention of including only artwork produced from life, so this is a bit of a cheat really. But never mind. Rules are there to be broken etc…

Last year, I produced a few new pieces of artwork specifically to use on Christmas cards (e.g.: www.birtall.co.uk/fineart/greetingcards.htm). I’ve left it a bit late really, but I’m intending on doing the same this year. This is this year’s first attempt.

I based this painting on a photograph taken in West Kirby a few years ago after some heavy snowfall. It depicts some woodland trees. I tried to approach this painting in the same way as I would a sketch from life. Not unexpectedly, it’s turned out to be a little more worked-up than a sketch but I did manage to complete it relatively quickly, in a few hours either side of lunch today, and retain at least an element of freshness. It is painted in acrylics on 10″ x 14″ linen.