I keep a list inside the door of my studio, of things not to forget when heading out plein air painting. Believe me, I’ve forgotten most of them at one point or another. Some things there’s an easy workaround for, others not. On one occasion earlier this fall it was white paint I had left behind, and I dealt with the oversight by using the white of the panel for the light areas in my sketch and keeping my colours bright and transparent. The approach certainly worked but it was a little, well, sketchy. So this week I headed back to the same spot with a full range of paints — and everything else I was supposed to remember, including a hot water bottle because since my previous visit things had cooled off considerably. In fact, it had snowed. I painted another layer on my previous effort, taking care to let some of the bright colours underneath continue to have a voice.