Wild Tuft – Winter

Last year's grass under melting snow

A winter scene is never simply white. Faded, straw gray stubble from the previous season shows through the snow, and it is that which gives the landscape both its scale and its dirt. The color of this variant is mixed for exactly that situation: without a trace of green, with a hint of gray, so that beside snow paste it does not read as dry summer grass.

Five millimeters of height

The clumps measure 5 mm and the sheet holds 35 of them. In a winter scene it suits to place them irregularly, in little groups by stones, fences and rails, that is where the wind blows the snow away and the stems peek out. A continuous carpet, on the other hand, kills the winter impression, because a real snow-covered surface is mostly empty.

Combining with snow and mud

The procedure is the opposite of summer: first place the growth, then apply snow paste around it and finally sprinkle a few flakes into the middle of a tuft as well. The fibers then rise out of the snow instead of being covered by it from above. Slushy tracks call for one more step: spatter the ends of the stems with thin mud or dark pigment, so that it shows where the vehicles drove. The impression is supported by a discreet silvery dry brush on the upper thirds of the fibers, which suggests hoarfrost. The shade also works outside winter, in scenes from early spring or from a burnt steppe, where the growth is equally dead. It is particularly rewarding to set a few clumps into ruts driven through slushy snow. The contrast between the white surface, the brown furrow and the grayish stubble gives a scene a depth that snow paste alone will never create, and it costs only a few minutes of work.