Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Brush Creek Beauty at the Falls

Brush Creek Beauty
Oil on panel, 16x12
Brush Creek Art Walk - Purchase Information
When I arrived on location in early in the morning, I had the Benton Boulevard Bridge in mind to paint....and then I saw the waterfall!   The golden light skimmed the surface of the water and the tips of the foliage in a poetic way.  I had to paint it, instead!  This light was fleeting, so it was my first priority.  I blocked in all of these highlights before going to the first dark.  I then marked all darks, knowing that this magical light and shadow would be the first to fade out of this landscape as the sun rose.  At this point, the light was already changing - so I blocked in the other color masses rather crudely.  This quick brushwork is all over the painting since time was certainly of the essence!  Using thick, wet paint - I needed to go to my palette knife for the final strokes.  The brushes simply moved the paint around too much.  I even skimmed the surface of the water with the palette knife - leaving a trail of "sparkle" in that water.  I think this one really captures the time and place as I quickly worked at water's edge.  This is painting number 625 in as many days and Day 15 of the 30 Day Painting Challenge.

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