Painting waterfalls

Wailua Falls

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colour Fix

Miki Willa

After I posted my 10 in 30 to WC, I went through my reference photos to see what I wanted to work on next. I found a photo of Wailua Falls on Kauai. I took this on the first trip Tom and I took to this, our favorite island. The road to the falls is long and filled with potholes. It is an old cane haul road. We were surrounded on both sides with old cane fields. Occasionally, a gate would appear to the left or right leading to smaller roads into the middle of the fields. One can almost feel the plantation times. The falls themselves are at the end of the road. There is a path to the bottom, but it is treacherous. There is also a path up the river from the coast side. I was pleased with the photos I took that day.

The painting was a challenge because of the depth of the falls. We were on a plane about even with the top. I am not sure I caught the true height of the falls because this kind of depth is very hard for me to paint. The illusion escapes me, but I will keep trying.