Happy Waterfall Wednesday!
Did you know that Waterfall Wednesday is a thing? It is (it even has its own hashtag #waterfallwednesday)! I found out about this celebration from the internet while I was working on my most recent project of 50 New York waterfall paintings for Summer Mosaic 2018. Since I’ve visited quite a few different waterfalls and studied them in minute detail by painting them, I thought it could be fun to share.
To start off this week, I am sharing the first waterfall that I ever painted.
Watkins Glen State Park
Watkins Glen State Park was painted last year as part of the 2017 Summer Mosaic project where I painted 50 different landscapes throughout the Finger Lakes Region.
Watkins Glen State Park, located in Watkins Glen, New York, is one of the most popular state parks of New York. The gorge trail is a two mile hike that features 19 different waterfalls. It’s absolutely beautiful! The surrounding park has many other hiking trails, and also has camping, picnic areas, a pool, and fishing places nearby. Because it is one of the more popular parks, visiting either earlier in the morning or towards late afternoon during weekdays may be the best times to avoid some of the crowds.
This painting shows the section near the Spiral Gorge area towards the top of the Gorge Trail. In the past I always hesitated painting water features. It’s more difficult than it might look. How do you paint water to look realistic? There’s more to it than using blue or white. Water itself is clear so it reflects the colors that surround it. Then there’s the rocks. How do you paint rocks without making them look like collections of potatoes?
The part of this waterfall painting I like the most (other than just being my first of many to come) is that it has a magical feel to it with the colors. If you’ve seen this section of the gorge in person, you’ve seen how the water can take on a deep blue green color that sparkles in the sunlight. It was my goal to capture that aspect in my painting.
Have you visited Watkins Glen State Park before? What was your favorite part of the visit?
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