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| "Cumberland Falls 1" 8"x12" pastel on Uart paper with acrylic wash |
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| "Cumberland Falls 2" 8"x12" pastel on Uart sanded paper |
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| "Cumberland Falls 2" close-up |
My Kentucky State Park adventure continues with Cumberland Falls State Park which is a beautiful spot especially in autumn.
The first image was created on Uart sanded paper toned with an acrylic blue/green/gray wash. My favorite paper is Wallis Belgium Mist which is a warm gray color but Wallis has production troubles and my order has been on back order for 3 months so I'm experimenting with recreating the color I enjoy on a sanded paper. Uart 400 has a similar grit texture as Wallis and I think it actually holds the pastel better. Then, of course, the Wallis paper arrived the week before leaving for Cumberland Falls; so now I have both papers to compare. This blue/green/gray underpainting makes a nice complementary color to the warm fall colors.
"Cumberland Falls 1" was created first and I wanted to capture the essence of the falls without too many details.
"Cumberland Falls 2" was drawn from a spot further down river and the sun was starting to drop along the ridge top illuminating the autumn foliage. This one was only 1/2 finished when it was time to go to dinner so I rubbed out some offending details and left just the impression of the bright orange trees.
So now the problem. The foliage, especially the color, is a distraction from the point of interest - Cumberland Falls. So in "Cumberland Falls 3" I cropped out most of the foliage to see if the composition is improved.
What do you think? Do you have a favorite?
