Finally turning my attention to the water, I worked slowly and carefully trying all the while to get movement into the falling water. I didn't want the effect you get when you photograph moving water using a high shutter speed as that effect essentially freezes the movement, so I blended many of the brushstrokes and kept edges soft. A final darkening of some of the rocks here and there completed the painting. I'm glad that I did this smaller study as it has pointed to a slightly different direction for the larger painting to come. I should mention that I saw this scene at Great Falls, Maryland where the Potomac river drops quite a lot in a short amount of time producing a wonderful spectacle - a favorite place of mine to go and paint.
2 comments:
It just shows a non-painter like me how much effort there is in every painting. I had always imagined the Potomac as a rather sedate river - I must brush up my geography !
Actually you are not far off, for the most part, the Potomac is rather sedate but when it gets to Great Falls, there is quite a dramatic change in elevation leading to spectacular falls and gushes of water all over the place. The spectacle can be viewed from both sides of the river (Maryland and Virginia) but I think the best views are from our side.
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