Tumbling Waters

On this 8X10 canvas I used alkyd oils with a palette knife. I enjoy using the palette knife to catch the movement of the water flowing over the rocks. This was painted from memory of a trip to Montana. The evening light was behind the trees and moving over the water. I began the painting with a sketch of the trees, the yellow light behind the fall trees made them glow moving through to touch the water. Thinning the paint I placed the yellow light, moved into the fall trees and then blocked in the rocks with the knife. Alkyds dry fairly fast so after the rocks began to dry some I placed the water and the yellow lights. Palette knife painting gives me the opportunity to gather bits of color into each stroke thereby moving the other colors in the painting throughout the painting. The palette knife painting came easily to me as I was taught in the beginning to use a palette knife to grind overglaze porcelain paints with oil. It is a great was to paint plein air because you can work fairly fast to get your impressions down and have a completed painting.