Waterfall

I thought that this is a nice composition for a waterfall painting since the waterfall isn’t one straight chunk of water but instead it is divided into sections or tiered to create a pleasing shape.  I haven’t developed the ability to create rocks as well as I would like and think that I still have some work to do  before this really looks like a rock face but I do link the value changes and variation in texture.  This is only my fourth waterfall painting so still do need to develop a better technique for creating cascading water and think the color’s in the water are a little patchy looking, I’ll try to remedy the situation in my next painting of this subject matter. I tried to keep the color selection as naturalistic and neutral as possible and think that it works and the shrubbery in the background is only suggested since I didn’t want to distract the eye from the main subject matter. I also found that the camera didn’t capture the colors as well as it should so the colors do look a little gray and think that this painting looks much nicer in reality. 

Waterfall, Pastel on Paper, 12x18"

Rain Along the Hills at Sunrise

Ever since childhood, Wales UK has always held a certain appeal to me, something that I can’t easily explain but it’s always been there nevertheless. My mother’s family may have come from there originally but my own research points more in the direction of Yorkshire, England than Wales but the family migrated to Canada back in the colonial days so the history has probably gotten a little muddled. I watched BBC video about the old Megalithic standing stones of the UK and when the host started talking about the Welsh history and showing the exceptionally hauntingly beautiful and lonely landscape I knew I had to get a few stills and work from those.

This painting was based on Cerrig Duon in mid Wales and I left the standing stones out since I was more interested in capturing the feeling of the landscape and the beautiful sky at sunrise. Adding the rainfall over the hills was artistic license at work since I don’t believe that it was raining in the documentary; however, I’ve heard that it rains a good deal in that part of the UK so I’m probably not far from the truth.  I used a fairly cool and low-key value system in the hopes of capturing the eerie feeling that I was picking up from the video. One day I’ll have to visit this place!

Rain Along the Hills at Sunrise, Pastel on Wallis, 12 x 18"
Etsy Listing