3" Wide Canvases - Grassy Creek Falls

So I just finished an 8x6" painting - Nothing to distinguishable about that size. Sorry forgot to mentions the edges are 3" wide. Pretty cool stuff . The end product is almost more sculpture than 2 dimensional painting. This size canvas offered some different opportunities and challenges. I normally paint on 1-1/2 wide canvas and I always paint the edges. In these paintings I look at the subject and only consider the face of the canvas - when it comes time to paint the edges I just extend it over the edges. This type of fudging works with 1.5", but for 3" I needed to consider a much larger area for the subject.

The scene painted is Grassy Creek Falls in western North Carolina.

Grassy Creek Falls - 8x6" Acrylic on Canvas

Grassy Creek Falls

I try to think of my paintings in three sections. Usually those sections are sky, water and land. In most cases each section occupies between 1/4 and 1/3 of the entire painting surface. This painting was a bit unique and more challenging in that land (the rocks making up the waterfall) occupied over 85% of the surface. The reason for the greater challenge comes from the intricacies of all the details. In painting the water or sky I tend to use broader bands of color and therefore these can be done quicker. This also makes the painting process a bit less tedious in that I can think of it in sections.

Despite the challenges of the compositions, I am very pleased with this painting. The patterns of the rock and the glazing elements of the waterfall and sky really make various elements pop off the canvas. This 24x24” work took over 35 hours to complete. It really is a nice complement to Crabtree Falls and Crabtree Creek which are also 24x24” and are also inspired from this same region of western North Carolina.