my Weekend in Southern Indiana

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:

• Burnt Sienna
• Raw Sienna
• Cobalt Blue
• Ultramarine Blue
• Olive Green

Here's the link to my demo that we originally broadcasted on Facebook Live. CLICK HERE to view on my YouTube channel. 

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  

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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. 

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Saturday Workshop:
Morning
Students started arriving at the First Christian Church on Kirkwood & Washington Streets in Bloomington around 9:00am to allow for setup of their supplies. The I started  the workshop at 9:30am and they put away their brushes at 4:00pm.

From 9:30 to noon I lectured on the basic principles of watercolor especially related to landscape painting. This included a couple of demonstrations on: 

• nature
• trees
• water
• structures such as a farmhouse with a small explanation of linear perspective 

At noon we took a break for lunch.

"I attended one of Dale Popovich's one-day watercolor workshop sponsored by the Bloomington Watercolor Society. I learned how to really loosen up – fantastic experience. The class really push me to try some new things in new ways. I learned a lot about reflections during this workshop. You are a patient and engaging teacher. I wish we had another day. Thank you so very much, Dale!"
​– Robin E.

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 

• 1-inch flat brush
• #nine or #ten round brush
• #five round brush
• an old toothbrush

Transparent Watercolor

• Burnt Sienna
• Raw Sienna
• Ultramarine Blue
• Cobalt Blue
• Olive Green or Sap Green
• Alizarin Crimson

Paper 

• 18" x 24" drawing board (Not needed if you are using a watercolor block) 
• Arches bright white or natural white watercolor300# paper: approx. 12"x 14"- cold press

        or

•  Arches natural white 300# cold press watercolor block: approx. 12"x 14"  

Note: if you wish to substitute 140# for the 300# that is fine           

Additional Supplies

• Mixing tray
• Cell tray to hold the paint (Please note: these two items may be a combination mixing tray/cell tray)
• Water container
• 3/4" masking tape
• 2-B pencil
• Kneaded eraser
• Paper towels
• Sponge
• Spray bottle
• If they have tabletop easels they can use those
• ​