Third Pool, 7 Cascades

I went back to the pool all week, Tues 9, Wed 10, Thurs 11, Friday 12 and Saturday 13. This is what I did:

I started to the right of the waterfall, looking down. I liked the shapes and the diagonals of the background
slopes, which were mirrored in the foreground. I used a mixture of greys concentrating on tone.

Painting 1. 8x10" oil on board Step 1.

Painting 1. 8x10" oil on board Step 2, the following day.

Painting 2. 6x8" oil on board. I left this one like this.

Painting 3. I moved round to the right. I liked the diagonal in the foreground repeated in the edge of the pool Stage 1.

Painting 3. Stage 2. 6x8"

Painting 4. From the middle. Stage 1. 8x6"oil on board.

Painting 4. Stage 2. 6x8"oil on board.

Painting 5. I moved down to a lower level. Stage 1. 10x8" oil on board

Painting 5. I moved back up and changed the foreground Stage 2. 10x8"

Painting 5. Stage 3. 10x8"  At home, 2 days later, I took out the orange trees in the foreground on the left, they were disturbing me.

The Round Pool

I changed place and went to the next waterfall up, number 2. I remember when walking there taking a photograph of a pool with hills in the distance. It was a lovely walk with the dogs. I used my view finder to create the composition and worked for 2 1/2 hours. I also used a smaller brush than I normally do and tried to keep the oil as dry as possible i.e. not adding any liquin or turps to thin the paint. That way the paint sticks more to the board.

8x10" oil on MDF

3rd waterfall rock wrapping around

I did some sketches to try and get that feeling of the rock wrapping around me. The other night I was looking for my black zip up fleece and when I found it and put it on I had a strange feeling. I immediately thought of the rock at the 7 Cascades wrapping around me like the fleece.  In fact, this is the feeling I get when I'm there. I feel safe, protected, cocooned, so this is the feeling I must try and express in my paintings. I did some charcoal sketches on site:

46 x 61cm charcoal on Arches 300 gr fin

46 x 61 charcoal on Arches 300gr, fin

8x 10" oil on board MDF

8x10" oil on MDF