 Marilee, my wife and I packed-up for a fun weekend of a demonstration and a full-day workshop. A dear friend offered her guest room for the weekend in southern Indiana. FRIDAY: We arrived at the historic Brown County Art Gallery in Nashville, IN around 2:30pm. Met with Wayne and Pam Cambell from the Art Association and Jeanne Bennett, Gallery Manager. I offered to do a watercolor demonstration for The Artist Walk at the gallery.  CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE MY YOU TUBE VIDEO OF THE DEMO The Art Walk is held the Fourth Friday of each month – April through October. Approximately 12 galleries stay open from 4-7 pm featuring original, hand-made local and regional art, and fine crafts. Refreshments, music, demonstrations, and programs offered at each gallery. Did you know that the Brown County Art Gallery is a pet-friendly business? Our Pembroke Welsh corgi, Tillie approves. She said they have the best cookies! This photo I painted from was the beginning of the Wisconsin River in Land ‘O Lakes, WI. I painted this demo in a 5-color, limited palette:
If you have a chance stop by the gallery and explore all of the collections of art. I am honored to be part of the Brown County Art Gallery Artists Association. Brown County Art Gallery 1 Artist Drive Nashville, IN 47448 Jeanne Bennett Gallery Manager email: [email protected] phone: (812) 988-4609 browncountyartgallery.org Friday Evening: We had a wonderful dinner with Mrs. Charlotte Griffin and her husband at Farm Restaurant in downtown Bloomington. Charlotte is the First Vice-President of the Bloomington Watercolor Society. This organization is around 90 strong. Farm Restaurant Chef Daniel Orr and the FARMteam strive to create crowd pleasing recipes for every budget and taste using local foods with global flavors. The menu changes with the seasons and there are always daily specials.
  Afternoon
In the afternoon students were provided with a reference photo. This portion of the workshop consisted of a step-by-step painting where I painted the first phase of the watercolor and students recreated what was demonstrated. Then I demoed the second phase of the painting, sharing tips and techniques. Students then painted the second phase. Finally I demonstrated the final phase and students completed their rendering of the painting in the allowed time. Throughout the paint-a-long I provide personal instruction, as needed, while students were painting. At the end of the day a critique take place. MATERIALS Brushes
Transparent Watercolor
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 IN CASE YOU WOULD LIKE TO DIRECTLY MAKE A DONATION OR SPEND SOME TIME HIKING THIS BEAUTIFUL AREAHere's a note from a friend of ours, Rod Sharka
Now we are needing to raise matching funds to satisfy the requirements of the USFS Community Forest Grant we hope to earn. Donations should go to northwoodalliance.org as it is the main non-profit organization that we are using to manage any funds. Be sure to specify that the donations are specifically for the Wildcat Falls Community Forest fund, as NWA does other projects as well. Note that we do plan to have multiple guided outings at the location this summer. Hopefully you and Marilee will be able to attend one or more. I think you realize that there is no established trail as of yet. I would like to get in there as soon as the snow melts (maybe by July this year) to open up a crude hiking trail to the falls so folks don't just trample the heck out of the area. Don't be in too big of a hurry to go up there. The road from Sucker Lake Rd. up to the property is mostly sand and can get pretty soft and boggy as the frost is going out. It's not plowed in the winter. Best to wait until at least Memorial day so you don't get stuck or tear up the road. I'll try to keep you posted. May the forest be with you, ~ Rod  THE NORTHWOODS ALLIANCEThe Northwood Alliance is a non-profit group that was formed in 1981 in opposition to Department of Energy proposals to locate a nuclear waste dump in either northern Wisconsin or the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was also instrumental in the successful defeat of the Crandon, Wisconsin underground zinc-copper project that had been proposed in a sulfide ore body located at the headwaters of the Wolf River, a grassroots struggle that took place over twenty-five years in the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s.
Today our primary focus is the conservation of land and the protection of water in the border lakes region and the Lake Superior watershed. We believe in land conservation for the economic, social and intrinsic values to the public. As a necessary good to society we embrace sustainable forest management, as well as appreciate wilderness and wildlife habitat, and we strive for safe public recreation.  Why don't you spend a long weekend in southern Indiana. About a half-hour from Nashville, IN. Tour the T C Steels estate and enjoy the 'The Little Smoky Mountains:' Indiana's beautiful, artistic hill country.
BROWN COUNTY FACT: There are more artist per capita than anywhere else in the Midwest. WGN recently did a beautiful news story about Brown County titled 'The Little Smoky Mountains: Indiana's beautiful, artistic hill country.' WATCH THE ARCHIVED VIDEO Saturday April 28, 2018 BLOOMINGTON WATERCOLOR SOCIETY Bloomington, IN Students should plan on arriving at 9:00am to allow for set up of their supplies. The workshop will start promptly at 9:30am and go to 4:00pm with a 45-minute lunch. From 9:30 to noon. Dale will lecture on the basic principles of watercolor especially related to landscape painting. This would include a couple of demonstrations on:
At noon will be a break for lunch returning promptly at 12:45pm. In the afternoon students will be provided with a reference photo. This portion of the workshop will consist of a step-by-step painting where Dale will paint the first phase of the watercolor and students will recreate what was demonstrated. Dale will then demo the second phase of the painting, sharing tips and techniques. Students will then paint the second phase. Dale will demo the final phase and students normally are able to complete their rendering of the painting in the allowed time. Dale will provide personal instruction, as needed, while students are painting. At the end of the day a critique will take place MATERIALS Brushes
Transparent Watercolor
Paper
Additional Supplies
The workshop will be open for enrollment by BWS members on the BWS website on March 24, 2018 at a cost of $145 and if seats are still available on April 14, 2018, will be open to non-members at a cost of $160. 9:00 am - 4:00 pm with a 45 minute lunch break Fee: $145 member/$160 non-member First Christian Church 205 E Kirkwood Ave (Kirkwood & Washington Streets) Bloomington, IN 47408 Contact for more information: [email protected] bloomingtonwatercolor.org Map to Bloomington How to Block-In and Cover the Whole Sheet in the First Wash This was a watercolor demonstration I did for my Mainstreet Art Center Wednesday morning watercolor class a few weeks ago. I have a great group of students, a mix of beginners and intermediates who truly love the process of learning and creating watercolor paintings. From start to finish I took approximately 1-1/5 hours of painting/lecture time. The point I wanted to drive home to my class was to be fearless and lay color down, blocking the entire sheet in the first wash. I have my students work with one-quarter of a sheet of watercolor paper till they build up the confidence and experience for a larger painting. This particular painting I used Kilimanjaro 300 lb. cold-pressed off-white natural paper. This is an excellent paper to work with. I have had a lot of success instructing my students with a paint-along demos. This way they watch what I do in step 1: the block-in and they then can recreate it while I am with them answering questions. I remember there was nothing more frustrating to watch my instructor create a painting from start to finish and then turning us loose, try to recreate the same painting or subject matter later that day and forget how he handed the block-in, establishing secondary masses and the final details.  The Photograph The photo I used for this watercolor painting was taken during a ten-day trip with my brother, Lee, his wife, Margo, and Marilee. We flew to Alaska around the end of August 2006. We decided to drive through the interior of Alaska instead of a cruise. This way we could experience all the sights, textures, and get an intimate view of the local color. We landed in Anchorage and traveled south to Seward enjoying this coastal town and spending the night in a quaint log cabin. The next day we took a daylong cruise and was totally in awe of the fjords and icebergs. From there we headed back north to Anchorage for the State Fair, Farmer’s Market, and the Anchorage Museum to see the works by Sydney Laurence, American Landscape painter. Then north to Wasilla and Fishhook. This was a portion of our trip. Denali and our plane trip around Mt Mckinley is for another time. This image was taken up by Hatcher Pass in early September which was during the peak of their autumn at an abandoned gold mine.. We took a beautiful drive along Willow Fishhook Road and then Hatcher Pass Road to get there. In fact this was one of the last pictures I took with my trusty Minolta film camera. Shot 20 rolls of film. Marilee shot over 2000 with her new Nikon D200 DSLR. Hatcher Pass is a mountain pass through the southwest part of the Talkeetna Mountains, Alaska. It is named after Robert Hatcher, a prospector and miner. To learn more about Hatcher Pass CLICK HERE.  Step #1: The Block-In Step #1: The Block-In I started with a pencil drawing lightly, sketched onto the watercolor paper. I recommend a 2B pencil. Don’t go crazy drawing every detail, just lay down the basic shapes making sure your perspective is spot-on. Get it right in the pencil drawing because it will be very difficult if near impossible to correct later. I shared with the students how to block in this particular subject matter with the background coming to the middle ground and then the foreground. I painted around the buildings at first. Then went into the buildings to cover the painting completely. The colors used were:
 Step #2: Establishing Secondary Masses STEP # 2: Establishing Secondary Masses The second pass at the painting I went back to the mountains in the background starting to form the secondary shapes and areas coming towards the foreground and the ledge behind the buildings. I then went into the foreground trying to keep the background cooler and grayer and the foreground warmer and more intense. Altering the temperature in your painting helps you with aerial perspective.  STEP # 3: Slowing the Process Way Down – The Final Details The third phase of the painting I started to develop the background to show more changes in value and modeled the slopes softening the middle area of the mountains. Then I came down to the ledge directly behind the buildings and began modeling the darker darks within that ledge to separate it from the background. I start to develop highly textured areas in the foreground. Working into the building, establishing value changes from the light side of building to the dark side, the cast shadow created by the building, and a small path for interest. I continued adding some of the detail in the building with windows, smoke coming out of the chimney, and a little bit more detail on the building off to the left.  ©Dale L Popovich IWS - Hatcher Pass - Finished watercolor painting Finally, I went back to the mountains, adjusting values to create some sort of interest in the dark areas off to the upper right. Again revisited the slopes off to the left, modeling a bit more, recreating the carved out earth during the gold rush times. I then began pushing a little more intense color and darker values alongside the ledge in the background to push the building forward. I lighted in the roof of the building through lifting to push it forward from the background. From there I began to model the front deck of the building, the side protrusion from the building and darkening the windows were needed. Adding small accents of darks to the path, out in front on and around the building itself. This completed the demonstration.
 Just recently 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 on-line, along with guest artists, gallerists, and others sharing their knowledge of the business side of art. Marilee said these two ladies are so on trend with social media and marketing. I personally enjoyed their talks with famous artist like Doug Diehl and Stapleton Kearns. In fact Stapleton Kearns will be judging the Indiana Heritage Art Show in Nashville, IN this year. One warning once you start listening you won't be able to stop!  Last week Leslie and Margaret share their feelings about John F Carlson book Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting.. As you all know hands down this is my favorite art books of all time. Even though I am a watercolorist and Carlson worked in oils I feel 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 amazing a book that is nearly 100 years old still holds up. The podcast is about an hour so listen to it while you are driving or taking a little time for yourself. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN.
The book is easy to find –you can buy a soft cover, spiral bound or for a Kindle at book at AMAZON. If you own an iPad, like I do you can purchase for an iBook at APPLE'S ITUNE STORE.  Earlier this year I participated in the Palette & Chisel's yearly Demo Days in February. This is a great event where most all of the instructors demonstrate their talents in a two-weekend event and it's all for free. During this time the Faculty Show is hanging in the Main Gallery.
Demo Day's give you a first hand opportunity to see the instructors teaching and painting styles. You can ask questions and really understand each artist's philosophies. You can find the my demo on my Facebook page, Observer Artist Watercolorist Dale L Popovich IWS. We broadcasted a Facebook live. Voyage Chicago saw my demo and included my painting in an article about Chicago Artists. Well, recently they approached me about doing an in depth interview for their artist & creative focused series calledThe Thought Provokers. Here's a link to the interview Voyage Chicago. . |
Dale L Popovich IWSDale is an award-winning watercolorist and teacher passionate about capturing the raw beauty of the American landscape with the fluid stroke of a brush. As you will see, the works selected in his portfolio represent the depth of his holistic approach to painting. You can also learn with this talented and experienced teacher through his workshops, Palette & Chisel, and Popovich Studio classes. Archives
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