A
few weeks ago I was watching Oregon Field
Guide on Public Television. The show was about two hikers, Tim Burke and Melinda Muckenthaler who had set a goal to
see 365 waterfalls in a year even though Tim was recovering from a serious injury
to his foot.
They
surpassed their goal and, in the process, even discovered waterfalls not marked
on maps.
One
of those scenic spots was a waterfall they called “Lady Creek Falls” located in
a rugged canyon on the west slope of Mount Hood.
Hoping
I wasn’t infringing too much on their work and skills as photographers, I used
the photo as inspiration for a painting.
I
started with a thumbnail, value sketch of the falls.
I
took the sketch to paper and, after masking out the areas I wanted to remain white,
I started splashing on paint.
After
that layer dried I added more layers of color.
Almost
every painting I do reaches a point where I lose enthusiasm, fear the whole
thing has gone south and think maybe I’ve created a very colorful piece of
fire-starting paper.
But
I let it sit overnight and the next day I pulled off the masking and went to
work on the water.
