Cartoon Steve in the Winter Snow

Cartoon Steve tries to stay warm on a winter snow day in the latest artwork from Steve’s Sketchbook.

Winter Cartoon Steve is hardly recognizable here. He does (as of the time of this writing) also appear in winter garb in the header graphic up above. But because of the winter cold in this view he has pulled his cap down lower and added earmuffs and mittens, too. A guy has to do what he can to keep warm, after all. Even a cartoon guy.

No, we have not had a big snow around here this winter, in case you were wondering. We did have some light snow right before Christmas, but that winter weather brought us lots of bitterly cold weather and only a little winter precipitation. But still, snow and winter weather have been on my mind, as they always are this time of year. So why not create some art about it?

Winter Weather, Sort Of

Actually, overall this winter has been rather mild, except for that one cold snap mentioned above.

We have, however, had rain. Lots and lots of rain. If it really did rain cats and dogs, Animal Control would have to go on a big hiring spree. I don’t know if our backyard and horse pasture will ever dry out. If you like a mud bath or mud pies, you are in luck, too. The mud will literally suck your boot off. Just ask Laura, who had it happen to her.

I suppose all of the rain we have had in the last month or two makes up for the drought conditions that we had at the end of last summer. Droughts are not good, but I do get tired of the mud sometimes.

But there is still a lot of winter left. And around here we almost more likely have snow in February and even early March than in January. So who knows? I will be keeping my coat, hat, and gloves handy, just in case.

About the Artwork

Once I started working on this, I began by drawing Cartoon Steve first. That part was pretty straightforward. And if you know me, you know I greatly prefer summer to winter. So that is why Cartoon Steve is not exactly smiling here.

When it came time for the background, I realized that I had already created two snow scene backgrounds in the last few weeks (you can see them here and here). Instead of trying to create another one, I thought I would leave that for next year. Instead, I came up with the idea to use a photo background. I went through my photos and found this one from two years ago. It looked sufficiently snowy for what I wanted. And it also looked interesting enough with the sunlight coming through the trees. So I chose that one.

I especially liked how the shadows on the snow turned out. The shadows from the trees in the background are real. But the shadows created by Cartoon Steve in the foreground were not there originally. I feel like the fake shadows match the real ones pretty well.

And just for good measure, I partially buried Cartoon Steve’s feet in the snow, too. That was an attempt to make it look like he was not just some flat artwork on top of a photo. That is exactly what he is, of course. But maybe it looks just a little more natural this way.

Here’s hoping you are staying nice and warm this winter!

Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool. - Proverbs 26:1