Art Adventures

I and my son Brandon, who as of this semester is an Art major in college, had a plein air art date today.  We hiked at Burgess Falls State Park on this GORGEOUS day and picked this spot to sit down and paint/draw.

Bran worked in charcoal, me in watercolor.

I felt the need to ditch my hiking boots when we sat down to paint, in part because they were rubbing my heel raw and in part because I wanted to get to know the landscape better and in my mind there's no better way.

 Here's Bran in front of the scene with his drawing.

And here's my watercolor... I may play with it some more because I'm by no means happy with it, or I may be content to chalk it up to an experiment.  Watercolor is not my thing when it comes to painting like this, but I don't want to lug all the stuff and deal with the mess of oils.  Next time I think I may bring acrylics and canvas, paint an undercoat in acrylic, and then finish it in oil in the studio.

This family was hiking with their bear/dog, who was a little on the older side and not up to the gruelling challenge of hiking down to the base of the falls, so this was their solution.  She was too cute, just content to hang out and enjoy the scenery.  

I was excited that my camera managed to capture the rainbow.

The base of the falls is miraculous.  There's this RUSH of air off the falls and mist fills the air, and the grass between the rocks is so green, with boulders strewn everywhere and the falls towering over you, the absolute epitome of Majesty.  It's humbling.

I know I"m lying cause I never stick with any subject that long, even horses, but I took TONS of reference pictures and I had the feeling that I could paint the falls for months.  So keep an eye peeled for at least one painting.