Paint Waterfalls That Are Full Of Motion - Artists Network

✓Showcase your talent and win big in Artists Network prestigious art competitions! Discover competitions in a variety of media and enter for your chance to win cash prizes, publication in leading art magazines, global exposure, and rewards for your hard work. Plus, gain valuable feedback from renowned jurors. Let your passion shine through - enter an art competition today!

Waterfalls are one my favorite painting subjects. They’re quite abundant in nature and most of them have plenty of beauty with which to derive a painting. By default they become focal points. The challenge for a landscape artist is representing water that’s in motion.

Cameras are good tools for artists but they have pitfalls. One of them is the outcome of snapping photos in a fraction of time that is much faster than the human eye can ever perceive. When a reference photo is taken of a waterfall, chances are that the shutter will open in 1/500 of a second, freezing the water’s motion and making it appear to be suspended in time.

Do this experiment: wave your hand in front of your eyes. You can’t make out the hand features. They become a blur. If you were to take a photo during the process you’d see the details in sharp focus.

Tip for Painting Water

An untrained artist will use the photo as a reference and paint the waterfall as it appears in the photo. This will compromise the sense of motion. I recommend you ignore the photo and paint the falling water by blurring the edges, maybe leaving just a bit of defined edges right before gravity takes over and makes it topple over. This will make it a nice eye-grabber.

The edges should be more diffused toward the bottom of the waterfall. Adding mist where the waterfall meets the river will also enhance the illusion of water in motion. You can also depict mist in the background to accentuate depth. The hard edges of the rocks, in contrast with the soft edges of the water, is very pleasing to the viewer. (A side note: when you blur the legs of animals that are walking or running, they will also appear to move.)

Johannes Vloothuis is a regular contributor at ArtistsNetwork.com and teaches online LIVE art workshops. To reach Vloothuis for these classes and to acquire teaching materials visit ImproveMyPaintings.com. Check out the next Paint Along LIVE Workshop here!