When Simon Beck creates artwork, he doesn' t use paint or pencils. Instead, he takes his snowshoes and compass(指南针) and walks to a wide-open area of fresh snow, making huge designs in the snow by walking and leaving snowshoed footprints in different patterns.
The idea to make a snow mural(壁画) came to him in 2004 after a day of skiing in Savoie, France. Mr Beck noticed an inviting area of undisturbed snow and thought it would be fun to draw a star in it. Being a mapmaker and an expert at orienteering(定向越野赛), Mr Beck was good with these skills to create in the snow.
Once he got to his site, he started in the center of the design. He then "drew" the primary lines while holding his compass to make sure he kept walking straight. Next, he added smaller lines, keeping track of their length by counting his footsteps. Finally, he filled in, or "shade", some of the areas between the lines with more footsteps. The result looked impressive, especially when he viewed it from above on a nearby chairlift.
On average, a snow design takes Mr Beck 10 hours to make. So far, Beck has created over 300 snow murals—the size of the biggest one is about 10 soccer fields. As Mr Beck worked to build a collection of photos to publish in his book Snow Art, he posted some of his pictures on the Internet. His art started to gain more attention and companies began asking him to create snow artwork. Mr Beck has been invited to make snow art all over the world, including Canada, the United States, Russia, and China.
It doesn' t worry Mr Beck that his work will disappear with the next snowfall. Once he has photographed a design, he' s ready to think about the next one. "I can make another drawing in the same place when the weather improves, " he says.
