Painting fast-moving water is a different kind of challenge, but don’t let it scare you. All you need to do is sit and look long enough so you can discern the patterns. Just as rocks and tree limbs breaking the surface of the water cause disturbances, so do submerged rocks and limbs. Depending on the elevation (the steepness of the fall), you may see more or less white water. Reflections appear only in the slower moving water or still pools. Often as not, they just show as a rich glow of color, without any detail.
It’s fairly easy to follow what’s going on in a scene with moving water if you draw a simple map of what direction the water is moving and, if you can tell, why it is moving that way.
ELIZABETH FURNACE
Watercolor on Fabriano cold-pressed watercolor paper
12" × 9" (30cm × 23cm)
Painting this scene on the spot in the Elizabeth Furnace Recreation Area was a real challenge. The light changed almost as frequently as the shapes in the water. Eventually, I was able to discern what caused the water patterns and simplify them. Rocks just under the water’s surface made subtle shapes of light and dark, while those that broke the surface made a more broken, lacy pattern.
I allowed granulating pigments and intentional hard edges within the mountain’s bulk to suggest the richly forested slopes. I kept the rest of the trees simple, so most of the focus would be on that sparkling, moving water. Rapid, calligraphic brushwork with minimal detail worked well for the mountain stream.