Hike to Cascade Falls Hanging Rock NC

Hanging Rock North Carolina, the view from the hike above Cascade Falls with the mist from Cascade falls hanging in the background.

Doing this piece was an unusual situation for me. I usually go to a location with my plein-air gear and find something to paint. For this piece I found a crappy photo with poor light that I didn't even remember taking the day before but I fell in love with the composition. So, I drove all the way back out two days in a row and painted it on location and the weather was perfect! I take most of my reference photos at 55mm because this is very close to the way our eyes see the subject and luckily I had done so with this image. I was able to find the exact spot and realized that the mist from waterfall was hanging in the valley behind the trees. Beautiful!!! There was just enough dappled sunlight coming through to highlight a few brightly colored leaves set against a more neutral background. I feel like most people, including myself, might walk by this seen and never appreciate its potential. I feel like I elevated the mundane, which is one of my goals for myself as an artist. I use primarily Gamblin Oil paints on a double oil primed linen canvas on a sealed birch 3mm panel. I build my own panels using acid-free archival glue which have been doing ever since I learned how to from Kevin McPherson in 1990's.