My wife turned me onto a great podcast called Artist Helping Artist. The host, Leslie Saeta, and her co-host Margaret Sheldon discuss a specific topic that addresses how to sell more art online, along with guest artists, gallerists, and others sharing their knowledge of the business side of art. Even though these two artists have not published a podcast in several years, these two ladies are on trend with social media and marketing. I enjoyed their talks with famous artists like Doug Diehl and Stapleton Kearns. In fact, Stapleton Kearns judged the Indiana Heritage Art Show in Nashville, IN, several years ago. One warning once you start listening, you won't be able to stop!​

As I was going through the massive collections of Artist Helping Artists podcasts – nearly 10 years, Leslie and Margaret shared their feelings about John F Carlson's book Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting. As you all know, this is my favorite art book of all time. Even though I am a watercolorist and Carlson worked in oils, it has valuable information about drawing, painting, perspective, atmosphere, and so much more. On their show, they mention some of the key ideas from the book... they hope that this will cause their audience (and mine) to reread it or purchase it for your art book collection. It's fantastic that a book nearly 100 years old still holds up. The podcast is about an hour, so listen to it while driving or taking a little time. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN.​

September 27-30, 2021
​FOUR-DAY WATERCOLOR WORKSHOP
​
Watercolor Impressions of
the Great Northwoods 

I want to tell you it was an honor to teach these four full days at  Dillman's. I hope MY students had as much fun as I did. Like I said it was a pleasant learning experience for me to see the various interpretations of my demos. I am always thrilled to help you, the artist truly see.

Dillman's Art Retreat
2021 Workshop Scrapbook

This year's Dillman's watercolor workshop started off with above normal temperatures, blazing autumn colors, and a packed studio. Artist started showing up early Sunday afternoon setting up their equipment for a four full day workshop. I was so pleased to see old friends and new artists. Two ladies stopped me in the parking lot to let me know they enjoy watching my Watercolor Escape Saturdays, YouTube videos and Dillman's Facebook live events. 

Sunday
Dillman's always offers a lovely early evening reception which included Denny Robertson, owner welcoming the instructors and students. From there we enjoyed a buffet dinner of salmon or chicken kiev, wild rice, fresh green beans and a display of tiny desserts. Oh, the owner, Denny kept the wine flowing.

The Workshop
As you may know, I share my personal library of photos I have taken over the years. This workshop was no different. I was so excited about introducing my passion for watercolor impressions of the Great Northwoods to my students.

Take a look at my scrapbook below and see all the fun we had. Everyone painted two paintings a day. I pushed them to get loose and free – I have to say everyone was surprised at
how much they produced.

Dillman's is a great host planning every waking moment of our day. Lunchtime boat rides, box lunches, group dinners in town, gallery walks, snacks in the morning and afternoons, campfires and s'mores, and the most beautiful compound you ever would want to stay at in Wisconsin. 

At the end of the workshop, I gave away all of my demos to eight lucky students. To finish off the last day Dillman's had champagne, cupcakes, and handed out certificates of completion.
Well done everyone.

I will be back next year, Sept 25-30, 2022 - four teaching days, and will cover the same subject, Watercolor Impressions
of the Great Northwoods. 

My wife Marilee will also be giving an art marketing workshop, Claim Your Online Presence as a Professional Artist on May 17-22, 2022 –  four teaching days. I hope you will be able to make it to next year's workshop in God's country.

Finished my first week of a new Palette & Chisel Zoom watercolor studio class. This summer session runs for 4-weeks and you will complete four paintings. My instruction is done as a paint-along. Why? I feel my students retain what they learn better in small bite-size portions.

The photo reference was from my personal library. This was early fall in northern Indiana on the Tippecanoe River. The attention was on the shoreline of the river paying close attention to the reflections in the water.

A Great Turnout for My Workshop:
Watercolor Waterfalls and Rapids of the Great Northwoods 
June 3 and 4, 2021. 10:00am-4:30pm est

THANK YOU EVERYONE.
I want to share with you what an honor it was to teach this enthusiastic group. I crafted a two-full days workshop for LOLA. They are located in God's country – Land 'O Lakes, WI. I hope my students had as much fun as I did. Like I told them it was a pleasant learning experience for me to see the various interpretations of the demos. I am always thrilled to help artists truly see. 
​
MY WORKSHOP SCRAPBOOK.
Here are a few images and comments posted on Facebook I want to share with you. FYI I have been giving watercolor workshops at LOLA since 2014, I always have a great turnout and this year was no different. I was so thrilled to see how well the group did with this difficult subject. 

If you have a few moments visit LOLA's website. This enthusiastic group of artist offers fun events throughout the year. https://lolaartswi.com.

BY MARILEE JACOBI-POPOVICH
​Dale and I wanted to include technology in our rebranded newsletter format -- CLICK HERE to get on our newsletter mailing list. Our lives are surrounded by it nowadays and it's nothing to be scared of but embrace it! There is so much useful information, places to see, and a community to explore. They say that today's iPhone has more muscle under the hood than the NASA computers that put the man on the moon. In fact, my old iPhone 6s could be used to fly 120,000,000 Apollo-era spacecraft to the moon!

On any given day Dale uses his iPad to display the image he paints from, does correspondence, stores his portfolio, and photo adjustments. He AirDrops the images he shot with his iPhone via AirDrop. Want to learn about Airdrop? Check out this video. http://bit.ly/airdrop-popovich. He uses Photos to color correct, crop, and adjust the lighting. I know the Androids have similar apps. I handle Dale's social media, design his marketing, and even layout this newsletter. That's just for starters.

VALUES
I found an app to help you understand values called NotanIzer. Sometimes a scene can be so colorful with textures you lose sight of value. Well, this app will help you see and understand values better. Whether you are in the studio or out doing a day of plein air painting. Easy to use on the fly, sitting at the doctor's office, or at your drawing table. I like it because it gives you flexibility allowing you to save your options in your camera roll. The app costs $1.99.

​Workshop #1, April 24th,
Dale will conduct a 2.5-hour painting workshop on Zoom stopping between steps and answering questions along the way. During the painting process, photos will be taken of each step. The photos will be added to the original packet creating the Popovich’s Start-to-Finish packet.

Workshop #2, May 8th,
Dale will lead a Zoom Group Critique sharing his screen with students. During this time, he will walk artists through two paintings and answer any additional questions.
​
Tuition is $115 for members and $135 for non-members. Supplies are not included in this workshop.  After payment is received, a supply list will be provided.  In addition, a full reference packet will be sent prior to the workshop which will also include the Zoom links.

Students must register and pay before the first class. To register stop in, call, or visit the website at www.chestertonart.org or Eventbrite.com (search Chesterton Art Center).

For questions, please call the Chesterton Art Center at 219-926-4711. The Chesterton Art Center is located at 115 S. 4th St., Chesterton, IN 46304.
For a list of all classes being offered at the Art Center, please see the website www.chestertonart.org.

​

Dale L Popovich will teach you how to add a splash to your watercolor paintings through his 3-full day watercolor workshop. Using Dale’s personal photo references you will learn to interpret water, waterfalls, rapids, and the his love of nature. He will share his 42+ years of professional teaching, knowledge, and techniques. For all levels. His unique step-by-step instruction in transparent watercolor will show you how to avoid watercolor problems and grow as a painter. ​

I have been giving workshops for the Lakeland Art League located in Minocqua, WI for several years. This ambitious, fun-loving group of nearly 100 members shares their passion with the community including shows, charity events, and a weekly open studio. Since the COVID their organization like so many others has come to halt.

Lakeland's leadership reached out to me and asked if I would do a Facebook Live Demonstration for their group. They wanted their art community to feel connected and creative, so virtual was the way to go. Some of you may remember last year I gave 12 weeks of Watercolor Escape Saturdays on Facebook Live Demos. Many of Lakeland's members joined in and loved it.​

Here's the link you will need to watch  at Monday, February 8th, 2021
10:00 am cst-- Lakeland's Facebook page. CLICK HERE

Below you will see the reference packet. This includes:

• Photo references from my personal library
• The pencil sketch on watercolor paper I want you to copy
• Paints I will be using
• A list of information you will walk away with

Some people follow along or watch the replay on Facebook Live and recreate my painting.  It's up to you.

​THIS IS A PAID EVENT: The Watercolor Society of Indiana asked me to conduct a virtual workshop for their organization. Due to COVID, this organization has turned its focus on meeting with its members on Zoom. The next adventure will be offering workshops. I’m honored to have been asked to kick this off for them. Here’s a link to the paid event. Need more info read below. Private message me with questions. Hope to see you there.

THE DEMO - DAY 1, Feb 13
THE REFERENCE PACKET

You will receive a reference packet for our Zoom workshop. This packet includes one of my photos from my personal collection. In addition, I will supply you a pencil sketch on watercolor paper you will recreate on your own paper.
​Finally, page 3 includes:

• The paint colors and other supplies
• A black & white value photo
• Techniques
• What you will walk away with 

At the beginning of this Zoom demonstration, I will show you some basic color charts creating greens from yellows and blues and then explaining how to grey these colors..

​There are several things that I will continue to remind you during the demonstration. A few of these are keeping your edges as soft as you can for as long as you can. Understanding various uses of the brush including applications of the toothbrush in applying and removing color. ​

KICK-OFF
My most recent 2-full day workshop was in beautiful southern Indiana – Brown County Art Gallery, Nashville, IN. Abstract Paintings of Nature in Watercolor was finally a go – because of COVID19, this workshop had been rescheduled! But things started to come back to some form of normal and Jeanne Bennett, Gallery Manager, and I were bound and determined to have it happen. Last years' workshop was so enjoyable I wanted to build on it.
As you can figure all of my events had been canceled earlier this year​. Marilee and I were incredibly organized this year with scheduling teaching, workshops, shows, and demos This was the weirdest thing to see it vaporize before our very eyes.  
​
WELCOME TO THE "LITTLE SMOKY MOUNTAINS"
Brown County, IN is a mecca for artists. Known as the Little Smoky Mountains Indiana's beautiful artistic hill country, The drive into Nashville never ceases to amaze me. According to WGN 9 TV in Chicago, Brown County has more artists per capita than anywhere else in the Midwest. Once you visit this area its easy to understand why artists are drawn to its beauty. The rolling hills, lush forests, and winding roads along with picturesque cottages make for a perfect canvas. ​

HISTORIC BROWN COUNTY ART GALLERY 
Here's a little history about the historic Brown County Art Gallery. The gallery has a rich background. The gallery was established in 1926 by the early members of an important regional art colony who began exploring rural southern Indiana in the 1890s. These early artists had been trained in the best art schools of Europe and America and were attracted to the rolling hills of Brown County because it offered both dramatic landscapes and interesting people to serve as subjects for their work.​

,BRUSHES
My third must-have is real hair brushes if you can afford them. Otherwise a blend of synthetic/real hair. If you take care of them you will keep them for a long time. The real hair loads a lot of paint and doesn't wear out like synthetic. My 1" 202 ​Morrilla is over 40 years old. Unfortunately, it's not made anymore but you may find a used one on eBay. I got a three brush set last year made by MEEDEN, Cat's Tongue Shape Paint Brushes-3 Piece Set for Watercolors  At that time when I purchased them they said they were made with sable. Later in the year they said they were made of squirrel. Today it reads horse but at this time like so many other things made in China they are out of stock. I haven't tested the horse hair brush to see how they load and flow onto the paper. if you want to try these reasonable priced brush set CLICK HERE. Remember they are currently out of stock.

MY TEACHING STYLE
I have a selection of my own personal photos that I gather for a specific workshop. I handout 4"x6" prints of the subject matter to the students. I  normally select the reference material because I want to teach specific techniques plus my workshops consist of paint-alongs.

I like instructing as a paint-along because it gives the student bitesize amounts of information. Then they go back and recreate my techniques.

Depending on the complexity of the reference there could be 3-7 steps in my paint-along. Here's my methodology:

• In some cases I start with the pencil sketch
• STEP #1: The Watercolor Block-In
• STEP # 2: Establishing Secondary Masses
• STEP # 3: Final Details
• STEP # 4: Step Back, Take a Look and Yes, You can Make Minor Corrections

I also encourage my students to take notes, photos, and videos if they wish. I share so much information that it's hard to retain it all. I also encourage them to recreate the watercolor painting at home and send it to me for a critique.  

,​​MASKS ON, SOCIALLY DISTANCED IN PLACE, SLEEVES PUSHED UP TO WORK, LEARN, AND HAVE FUN! 
​
DAY 1: MORNING: I started demonstrating right away working from my iPad.
I begin with a limited pencil drawing on the paper. With this 6-color, full palette snow scene I talked about temperature value, color, and intensities of their paintings. The morning painting was a snow scene of the beginning of the Wisconsin River (Land O' Lakes, WI) which has been one of my favorite sites to paint, whether it's spring, summer, fall, or winter. The levels of water change as does the foliage, colors, textures, and the influence of light. I call this river home. In this exercise, I wanted to teach how to handle snow and paint anything white. evaluate temperature and not copy the photo. ​

I gave them an oversight on atmospheric perspective so they could create a good depth of field. We finish this painting in three steps as a paint-along. Through my years as a professional teaching of watercolor painter, I have found this technique works well with the student. They go through the process which helps the student retain what was created.

DAY 2: MORNING: The morning painting was of a cabin tucked into the woods. This painting was a limited palette of 5-colors – remember 6-colors is a full palette. In this demonstration I wanted to share my techniques regarding how to keep your edges as soft as you can while painting a highly textured background. This allowed the cabin to emerge from the wooded background. 

DAY 2: AFTERNOON: The afternoon I demoed a 5-color limited palette painting was a freeform swamp scene. In this exercise I wanted the students to painting without a drawing.

I started with my usual block in method by painting from background to foreground and large areas to small. I washed in the cool gray down colors in the background working forward two more intense and darker color.

Painting the large shapes and values. to form the finished picture adjustment of the values and shapes. Working smaller values with details. When everything was in place and the painting was dry I began placing the masses of trees. To finish up I added details to the trees and a few accents of color.

One of my students suggested a unicorn in this "Lord of the Rings" looking painting. As you can see the unicorn slipped away before I could add him. ;))

IN CONCLUTION
During these two days of instruction, I shared my knowledge with my students on a multitude of things including composition, focal points and how to keep the eye moving.

We covered fall, winter, spring and summer scenes and how to handle the temperature changes through the seasons. This gave the watercolor paintings a more pleasant, authentic look.  All the demonstrations were done with limited pencil work and the majority of drawing was formed with the brush.

​People ask me why I like smaller classes and workshops. Well, having a small class or what I like to call mentoring workshops gives me an opportunity to focus on each individual student. Working with the student for one, two or four days allows me to gather the exact insight on each student's individual needs in a concentrated manner. I enjoy teaching to truly see, overcome fears and find joy in painting. We all had a good time learned a lot and experimented a lot.

WORKSHOP ALBUM