Florals & Frost

As winter loosens its grip and the light begins to linger just a little longer each day, we find ourselves in that magical “season between seasons.” The snow is still with us, but there - just beneath it, life is stirring. Snowdrops, crocus, daffodils, and hellebore are bravely pushing through the frost, offering the first whispers of spring!

 

At The Art Store, we’re celebrating this fleeting, luminous in-between with an exploration of mixed media! Layering, building, and discovering new possibilities as the seasons shift.

 

There’s something poetic about pairing delicate washes with rich, painterly texture and finishing with crisp, vibrant detail. This week in the Studio Society Pages, we’re inviting you to experiment with a three-part process:

 

Begin with luminous washes.
Layer with expressive oil passages.
Refine with colored pencil detail.

 

The result? Artwork that captures both the softness of thawing snow and the resilience of early blooms.

 

Create your base using the beautifully pigmented, lightfast colors of Holbein Watercolor. Their smooth consistency and vibrant clarity make them ideal for soft winter skies, frosted backgrounds, transparent petal layers, and subtle shadow work in snow.

 

If you’re craving velvety opacity for those pale petals and cool snowbanks, incorporate Holbein Acrylic Gouache. Its matte finish and intense pigmentation offer stunning contrast against transparent watercolor passages. Perfect for creamy hellebore petals or the saturated centers of crocus blossoms.

 

Let everything dry completely before moving on to the next stage. Patience now will reward you later! I know, I know... but just do it. 

 

Once your watercolor and acrylic gouache layers are fully dry, introduce painterly richness using Cobra Water Mixable Oils.

Cobra’s water-mixable oils allow you to layer without harsh solvents, build expressive highlights, add textural strokes for petals and foliage, and create luminous, creamy snow effects.

 

This is where you can truly celebrate that “between” feeling... where winter’s cool whites meet the warmer promise of spring!

 

And speaking of whites, this is the moment to stock up and embrace their subtle differences:

 

Titanium White – bold, opaque, powerful highlights
Pro White – crisp accents and clean details
Gofun White from the Holbein Irodori Gouache line – a softer, traditional white with a beautifully velvety presence

 

Layering different whites adds dimension to snow, petals, and frost in ways a single tube simply can’t!

 

Finally, once your oil layers are touch-dry, bring in precision and detail using Holbein Colored Pencils.

Colored pencils are perfect for defining petal edges, adding delicate veining, enhancing stamens and pollen, deepening shadows, and sketching in fine grasses peeking through snow. They glide beautifully over dried mixed media surfaces and allow you to unify the entire composition with crisp finishing touches.

We may still be bundled in scarves, but our studios can bloom ahead of schedule! This in-between season is an invitation to explore contrast, layer materials in new ways, celebrate resilience and renewal, and find joy in florals and frost alike.

 

Before the full abundance of May arrives, let’s honor these brave early blooms... and the creative energies they inspire!

 

Pull out your palettes, embrace your whites, and try something new this week! This "season between seasons" is brief, beautiful, and full of possibility. We can’t wait to see what blossoms in your studio!

 

 

XOXOX,

Your Friendly Neighborhood Art Store