Colors of the Seasons: Intro

By
Lubrecht Forest, Montana, September 2018
One area that I've always needed to work on, and never paid enough attention to, is color.  Specifically, the colors of scenery when building a model railroad.  So in order to help myself understand colors of scenery, I'm going to be doing a 5 part series called "Colors of the Seasons".  This series will focus on colors of fall, winter, spring, and summer in Montana. My local area is an excellent subject for people modeling a prototype west of the Mississippi because the colors are more or less uniform on this half of the country.

That being said, it should be noted that colors vary dramatically from region to region. The Western US has one color palate, others will have different colors seen in one season, or seen all year.  Perhaps in the future I will expand on this series to include different regions at select times of the year.  In general though, the colors revolve around the following base colors:

  • Spring: intense, light Green
  • Summer:  dull, dark Green
  • Fall: subdued colors around Burnt Sierra or Brown
  • Winter: White, Blue, Gray 
It is important to note that there is overlap as well as variety between climates and regions. Below is a perfect example which illustrates my point. Take a good look at these three images, all from different parts of the world and in different climates.  Notice the similarities and difference between them.

Desert:


Arctic and sub-Arctic:


Tropical/ Jungle:


Both of these climates have similar and different colors. The point is to remember that there is a lot of general overlap, but still there is variety in nature.  Model railroaders should take note of this and vary our palates similarly.  Anyways, the next post shall focus on fall.  Since it only occurs once per year for a brief period in my area, it's important I get decent photos.

Speaking of which, the photos above (except for the header) are public domain and free to use. Just thought I would mention that if anyone was wondering.

Thanks!

--James Willmus