No way!

No way am I going to be up at dawn, standing and shivering in the snow at an easel. I just now completed this watercolor painting from a reference photograph whilst in my cozy studio. Approximately 15"X30" on 140lb. cold press watercolor paper. I painted the lake first, laying in the warm and cool dawn colors wet-on-wet and holding the paper almost vertically for a run and mix. Then I painted the sky wet-on-wet with a sideways motion of a #20 round watercolor brush (sable). After that, I painted in the tree line with a #8 round watercolor brush, a quarter inch wide flat watercolor brush, and a rigger for those fine branches. Then the coolish/warmish blues were quickly painted into the snow areas with my #20. The painting was finalized with the reflections in the lake. The little bits of ice and snow floating on the water were first masked out with frisket at the very beginning of the painting and before I laid down any paint. Those few tree trunks on the right side foreground were painted in with a mixture of gouache and watercolor paint. Painting time: about two hours. Burrr!