Simplon Pass Chalets

Two weathered stone chalets sit in the lower-middle foreground, anchoring the composition against towering snow-capped peaks that fill the background. The mountains are rendered in soft, hazy washes—cream peaks with blue and lavender shadows—creating strong atmospheric perspective. Pale, overcast sky dominates the upper third with barely differentiated color. The eye enters through the warm reddish-brown buildings (the only warm mass in the cool-dominated composition) and is pulled upward toward the luminous snow peaks. Foreground earth is a warm golden-tan scattered with rocky debris.

The lightest lights are the snow peaks and sky—a pale cream that sits as the value anchor. Dark darks cluster in the building windows and shadows (deep brown-black). The buildings themselves occupy a rich mid-dark warm tone that reads darker than the mountain faces. Mountain faces are mid-value cool grays and mauves. The foreground earth is a warm mid-tone that bridges the buildings and ground plane. Squinting reveals three clear value zones: dark buildings, light sky/peaks, and mid-tone everything else.

• #e7d7b7

  Titanium White + touch of Raw Sienna

  Snow peaks, pale sky, highest value highlights

• #958d94

  Ultramarine Blue + Alizarin + touch of Raw Sienna

  Mountain faces and atmospheric shadows receding into distance

• #8d796a

  Raw Sienna + Ultramarine Blue (warm brown)

  Building stone walls, warm mid-tone earth

• #baa48b

  Raw Sienna + Titanium White + touch of Ultramarine

  Lighter building stone, lighter earth areas

• #aa927b

  Raw Sienna + Burnt Sienna + touch of Ultramarine

  Mid-tone building areas, transitional earth

• #563934

  Ultramarine Blue + Alizarin Crimson + Raw Sienna (dark, cool brown)

  Building windows, deep shadows under eaves, dark stone pockets

Mountains are entirely soft edges—horizontal strokes that blend and blur, with colors applied wet-into-wet to create haze. Buildings have slightly sharper edges than mountains but remain painterly; windows and roof edges are crisp, but stone surfaces show broken brushwork that suggests rather than describes texture. Foreground stones are rendered with gestural, overlapping strokes—the eye completes them rather than the brush. The transition from middle ground to foreground uses increasing edge definition and stroke visibility.

1. 01

   Establish the sky and distant light

   Wet your entire upper two-thirds with clear water. Drop pale cream (near-white) into the top, then introduce cool lavender-grays (ultramarine + alizarin) lower, blending while wet. Leave the paper mostly light—this is overcast alpine light. Let edges stay soft and transitions gradual. This sets the atmospheric foundation.

2. 02

   Block in the mountain mass

   While sky is still damp, establish the distant peaks with pale cream-white at the very top. Drop cooler mauves and blue-grays (ultramarine + raw sienna) into the middle mountain faces. Keep all edges soft—use horizontal, sideways strokes that follow the mountain's slope. The peaks should feel distant and hazy, not sharp. This layer reads as one atmospheric shape.

3. 03

   Lay the warm foreground plane

   Shift to the lower half. Apply a warm golden-tan (raw sienna + touch of white) across the entire ground plane, varying slightly as you go—warmer ochre-gold in some spots, more muted in others. This color should feel notably warmer than the cool mountains above, creating a clear temperature shift. The foreground is the only warm mass in the composition; it grounds the scene.

4. 04

   Place the buildings as warm mid-dark masses

   With a medium round brush, establish the two chalets in warm brown (raw sienna + ultramarine, favoring warmth). Block them as simplified geometric shapes—don't fiddle with details yet. The left building is slightly taller; the right sits lower. Both have pitched roofs catching light. These forms should feel solid against the soft mountains. The warm brown should be noticeably darker than the sky but not as dark as the eventual shadows.

5. 05

   Define the rocky foreground and shadow structure

   Introduce the stone debris and rocky ground with broken strokes of darker tan and muted greens (raw sienna + touch of ultramarine). Let these strokes be loose—they suggest rocks, not render them. Add shadows beneath the chalets and along the left building with the dark brown mix (ultramarine + alizarin + raw sienna), keeping edges soft on the mountain-facing sides. Darken the window openings and deep shadow pockets dramatically.

6. 06

   Layer the building details and snow patches

   Add a lighter tan (raw sienna + white) to the right side of the chalets where light catches. Introduce small highlights of pale cream on the roofs where snow clings. Add deeper shadows in roof folds and on the shaded building walls. Keep the stone texture suggested through varied strokes, not obsessively detailed. A few small windows (dark) are enough.

7. 07

   Strengthen atmospheric perspective and cohesion

   Step back and look at value relationships. The mountains should recede; darken them slightly if they're competing with the buildings. Soften any sharp edges in the mountains. Ensure the pale sky reads continuously—it's the lightest, lightest element. Add a few accent strokes of cool shadow (mauve-gray) in the middle distance between buildings and peaks if the area feels flat. The foreground stones can take one more pass of varied warm-browns and subtle greens to read as earth and rubble.

8. 08

   Final accents and atmospheric effects

   With a fine brush, add small highlights of pale cream where sunlight catches snow or light stone. Drop a touch of cool mauve into the shadow areas of the mountains to reinforce distance. A few thin strokes of dark brown for roof edges or window depth, but restrain detail—suggestion is stronger than description. Let texture show through brushwork, not precision. Step back frequently to ensure the whole reads as a misty alpine moment.

• Overworking the mountains—they must stay soft and atmospheric or they'll feel flat and close. Resist the urge to sharpen edges or add detail; they recede through softness.
• Making the buildings too photographic. Sargent suggests windows and roof structure with a few strokes; if you render every stone, the technique becomes labored and the freshness dies.
• Using pure white for snow instead of warm cream. The snow is lit by overcast light and sits against cool sky; it needs warmth (touch of raw sienna in your white) to feel natural.
• Neglecting the foreground stones. Easy to paint them carelessly as mud. Break them up with varied strokes—some tan, some darker brown, a touch of green shadow—so they read as distinct rocks in warm earth.
• Losing atmospheric perspective by making distant and foreground elements equally sharp or detailed. Distance must stay hazy; sharpness moves forward.

beginner friendliness

value contrast

palette complexity

compositional simplicity

brushwork visibility