Cold Feet

Its been a quiet winter from a plein air painting point of view.  I hate being cold, and I must have thin blood, so I have been doing indoor activities, namely finishing off a big painting that I started last winter but didn't know where to go with it.  A kindly visitor said they liked it in its unfinished state so I figured that was a sign that I really had to knuckle down.
I went back for another look at the scene, to refresh my senses, and soon got going.
This is the end result:

It is quite big (for me) at 70 x 50 cms.
Oils on Canvas, 'The last run home'

I thought you may be interested to see the progress of this one, unusually I had recorded some of it.
I started with an on site watercolour sketch.  I had gone up on my skis, and sat on the cold snow, balancing my sketchbook on my feet for an easel:

 When I got home, I mapped it out on my canvas and started the blocking in.  Because it was such a cold subject I used a warm coloured ground.  This is my initial block in, which I did in acrylics.

The next phase was where I left it for 12 months, and the version that my friend liked, which spurred me on to finish it.

I was now getting a bit more comfortable with oil paint, and preferring the thicker layers that oils let you apply, so here is the finished version as a comparison.  You can't really see the thickness of the paint, but I can assure you there is plenty on there.