As I Mentioned In The Last Post...

...I use the razor to cut in details and shapes. Here, I am making space for clouds in the pretty gradient created by a low sun. 

I paint in the clouds, smoothing and blending them into the sky already painted.

Then once they have been painted in, I cut in the singular blades of grass. This way, when the grass is later painted in, the surface stays smooth and pictorially unified. 

In other words, it is one picture plane and not looking like they are pasted on top of what is painted behind them, in this case the sky.

I Forgot To Post...

...my final painting from the elements show. 

To capture the detail and not drag dark colors into the snow, I used my usual technique of painting and scraping away paint to create channels for the fence to fill. 

This way, the detail stays crisp, the snow stays clean, and the entire surface stays optically smooth. Hanging on the wall, I am very proud of how they turned out!