Hi there everyone! I created this image last summer for an environment workshop with the great artist James Paick. I only have a few steps of the image as I was mostly saving on top of the same file and merging layers actively. Nevertheless, I can talk about what was behind the decisions I made.

For the workshop exercise, I had to create an image around the concept of "waterfall".

I sketched a few thumbnails to test some ideas. In the end I decided that I would use elements from two of them. I wanted the waterfall shape from the first one and the foreground elements from the second. Also I wanted to do the image in a quick, painterly manner, mainly expressing a mood and, at the same time, using all the techniques we learnt in class. At the time I did the painting, the weather was really hot so I chose to convey the feeling of an early summer evening where everything is warm and relaxing (Fig.01).


I primarily used this brush for this piece. I love this brush because it gives me a "lots of ink" feel, a nice texture and, if I press lightly, it blends well (Fig.02 – 03).




Using the Lasso tool and a textured brush, I quickly blocked the main shapes with very desaturated colors, using quick and loose brush strokes.

As you can see, the essence of the final painting is already captured in this stage, reinforcing the importance of the initial stages (Fig.04).