McCloud Falls

Since we have been in Zambia for three months now, most of my artwork has pertained to that area. Well, today, my friends, I was getting a little nostalgic for a trip we took last summer to Shasta, CA. More particular, a hike we took to see all three of the McCloud Falls.

So, I pulled out my drawing pad and started sketching. Lately, I have been creating my drawings on a brown Strathmore drawing pad using Micron pens and ink. Today, I felt like doing something different, so I pulled out the watercolors!

Since I was going to use watercolors, I decided to do a very loose sketch and let the color tell the story.

Since I don't feel completely comfortable with watercolor, I leaned on a bit of a crutch: ink washes. So I first did a wash of golden brown over the entire sheet of paper. After letting that dry, I looked for all the shadows on the piece, broke out the ink wash, and went to town. This created some wonderful things for me.

1. It allowed me to get a better idea of how the piece was going to look.

2. I got a better idea of where the colors would go

3. It made me slow down. I tend to really overwork watercolors.

The result is the piece you see here which I call The Top of McCloud Falls. Pretty original title eh?