Waterfall in Shadow

I went back to Boulder Falls, a week after my study (see the previous post), with a larger canvas; the largest I could fit on my Alla Prima Pochade box.

The water was considerably different than only one week prior; nearing the end of summer, there was not as much waterfall.  The challenge this posed was only that I had to re-assess, which is good, because I think no matter how many times I approach the same subject, constant re-assessment is necessary.  This is particularly important when working from photographs, so that I am not merely copying, but considering with all my available faculty the way I can display how I feel about the subject.  It’s very different than copying, indeed.

The waterfall was a challenge. I didn’t have a clear idea of how to handle it, even though I liked my previous study. I painted it about three times before I was ready to move from it and concentrate on the surrounding rock. I worked mostly with horizontal and vertical brush strokes in the water, with a few swipes of my palette knife, and an occasional nudge with my finger. In the end, I like how I captured the movement of the water.

Painting the rocks felt like visiting with family: easy to get into it and easy to get into problems. I had to wipe at least one small area clean and try again. Rock like these can be just about any color you want as long as the values and edges express them correctly. I nevertheless tried to get the color accurate as well. There are more fun opportunities in jagged rock than anywhere I know for playing with the palette knife. I restrained it, though, so as to keep the rock from competing with the waterfall.

I intended this whole piece to be in shadow, as it was for the first hour of painting, but the beautiful light on the shallow pools and rocks at the bottom of the waterfall was irresistible. I considered it for a moment (as the sun sped it’s way higher) and plunged into it, trying to pace myself at the same time of feeling a little rushed.

Since everything in the shade was already appropriately cool, I only needed to keep the sun-lit areas appropriately warm. Looking at it now, I could have pushed this difference even more, but I think it would detract from the beauty of the waterfall which is my focus for the piece. The sunlit area is where the viewer might dip his/her toes in while enjoying the scene, which is exactly what I did after about 2 hours of painting.

I couldn’t think of a more enjoyable occupation than this.