More Allen Gardens

My watercolor from last evening

Siraj's Watercolor

Siraj was unable to attend last night's session but painted this watercolor earlier in the week.  As Tom said it ended up being a nice evening after all and there were so many subjects to choose from it was a bit overwhelming.  The sky was beautiful so I decided to leave out the campus buildings that are behind the gardens in my view.  Many flowers were in bloom and I'd like to go back with pastels and try for some of those gorgeous flower colors.  It is a great place to paint in the evening.

Allen Centennial Gardens

After going back and forth on the weather forecast, we ended up with a nice enough evening for painting and a good group of painters showed up.  I'm posting a photo of what I thought about painting and also my painting in which I settled on a small portion of the garden pond to paint.  I call this pushing the paint around until the light is gone.  It needs more definition which I'll probably add in another layer once the initial painting dries.  -  Tom

Chilly morning, fun painting, and wonderful company at lunch in Belleville! I went back and took some photos when the sun came out after lunch and did a bit more work on the piece I started once I got home. It's good to get some plein air practice.

Another Belleville Painting

Almost quit on this one but decided to try to salvage something.  And after quite a bit of fixing up on my initial field effort, here it is.  It was nice to have a number of people walking along the path so I could gauge their size and paint a person into it.    

Tom

Painting in Belleville 6/28/16

Jan, Tom, Gretchen, Wendy and Trisha

Soft Pastel on Sanded Paper

Trisha Duren with her pastel painting - great job on the water!

We had a great time painting in the park at Belleville.  It was quite overcast and chilly in the morning and the sun didn't come out until we were ready for lunch which several of us ate at a local pub in Belleville.  A very nice gentleman bought my Belleville Park pastel and I forgot to snap a photo of it but I found a nice little spot on the Sugar River on my way out of Paoli so I painted this pastel there looking back towards town.  I had stopped at Paoli on the way home to see Jan Norsetter's latest show at Zazen Gallery.  It was great and there were some beautiful local landscapes in various seasons.   Well worth a trip to Paoli!

Belleville, WI; June 28, 2016

8x6", "Sugar River at Belleville", Jan Norsetter

We had a cold morning in the park. I finally resorted to my down coat:-p

However, plein air painting is still great fun. 

June 28th - Plein Air Painting at Belleville Community Park

We will meet at 8am at Belleville Community Park in Belleville Wi. on Tuesday June 28th.  Meet in the main parking lot just off Hwy. 69.  For a map click on this date on the events calendar.

Fredericks Hill

On June 14th, Tuesday, we'll be painting in the evening at the Pheasant Branch Conservancy near Fredericks Hill.  Here's a photo of one view in the area.

Mariners Cove Outing

Last Thursday we had a very nice morning painting along the Lake Mendota shoreline at Mariners Cove.  I did manage to find a sailboat, although it was raised out of the water.  That may not be obvious from the painting.  A few of us there agreed we might want to paint here another time later in the year.

Tom

Plein Air Painting at Pheasant Branch May 19th

Enjoyed a beautiful morning at Pheasant Branch Trail in Middleton on Thursday with the group.  My painting is a view of Pheasant Branch Creek (soft pastel on handmade textured support).
Wendy

Another Fine Day Painting

We had a nice sunny morning at Pheasant Branch Creek.  I tried painting the water reflections in the creek but didn't get a painting out of it.  Here's my painting from last week at Indian Lake after I took it home, wiped out the sky and re-painted it. On site I was chasing a cloud pattern and never quite got the sky I wanted.

Tom

Plein Air Painting at Pheasant Branch May 19th 8 AM - Noon

We will meet on Thursday May 19th at 8am for painting at Pheasant Branch Conservancy.  (See events calendar for details)  It is also a great spot for birdwatching so you may wish to bring binoculars.  A very busy paved path runs through this conservancy with many joggers and cyclists much of the day so do not set up for painting on the path.  Also please be mindful this is a nature conservancy so we do want to be careful of wild life and vegetation.  That said there are places out of the way of traffic and plants.  And there are benches to sit on throughout the conservancy.  It a beautiful place especially early in the morning.

Indian Lake May 12th

12x16 watercolor on hot press paper

It was a bit windy but Tom, Kung, Reisa and I painted yesterday at Indian Lake.  There were great clouds blowing around but hard to paint when they change every second.  I stuck to watercolor and painted near the picnic shelter.

Tom painting from alongside the entrance road.

Kung Exhibit of Paintings

Spring Paintings

I want to first thank Pat and Jan F. for taking photos of all the painters at our first outing.  It was sort of cool but spring is coming and it was nice to just get outside and start the new DCPAPA season.  I was also pleasantly surprised when I read the Sunday "Best" section of the State Journal and they had an article on Jan Norsetter's paintings.  About time they featured some good art instead of the usual modern or conceptual, or post-Da-Da whatever so-called art.  I'm letting my bias show but I get frustrated at times when paintings that take considerable knowledge, skill, and refined aesthetic judgments to create are dismissed as lessor art because of the subject matter or that realism is considered old-fashioned in some sense.

Pat, I appreciated your posting photos of some of my paintings from my Goodman Center show, but the lighting on those paintings was so poor it really bugs me ... so I'm posting a new painting to replace that previous post.  I did this on two separate days, first a careful and somewhat detailed underpainting and then adding the top layer and color the second day.  Quite often I seem to like my underpaintings better than the finished painting.  I may need to figure out why that is.

Tom

Highlights from Tom Gilbert's Show at Goodman Center

I got to Tom's show just in time before it came down this week and I wanted to share a few of my favorite paintings in the show.  Overall the show was very impressive despite lighting that was not exactly ideal and I am inspired to work harder on landscape painting this year.  Well done, Tom!!

First Outing of the 2016 Season at Token Creek

Jan with a view from the bridge

Tom painting a view of the creek and field

Reisa hunkered down out of the wind with her pastels

Tricia working on tree trunk

Token Creek Conservancy

We had a cold and somewhat windy day, but it was good to be outside painting!

Joan - thanks for the coffee!!

Wendy, working in pastels

My painting, finished up in my studio (where it was significantly warmer!)  Probably not a keeper, but it felt to good to be outdoors painting again :)

Viking Park Painting

I recently had an interesting experience painting at Viking Park near Stoughton.  As I was painting a person came up to me and told me he had also seen me painting at this park last fall, and had taken a photo as I was painting.  We had a nice conversation and I gave him my email address and he said he'd send me the photo.  In return I then sent him an image of the painting I did that day.  I'm attaching both.  I cropped his photo so it matched up with the scene I was painting.  He used a phone camera and you can see it's not high quality resolution but I like the hazy, almost posterized look of it.  I find it interesting how the mood and colors of the painting and the photo are so different.  I think it's partly because I started painting in the late afternoon while I presume his photo was taken later with evening light as I was finishing up.  I may return to this site again next fall and try another painting more in line with the colors of the photo.

Tom

1st Plein Air Painting Date April 29th @ Token Creek Conservancy - Changed from the 28th due to rain.

Jan Feyzi's Painting at Token Creek Conservancy from last spring.

Where to meet at 8am for painting in the morning.

We will meet at 8am for painting Friday morning.  Please note this is the Conservancy and NOT Token Creek Park.  There is some rain in the forecast so check the blog for update in case of cancellation or change of date.  We usually try not to cancel or reschedule but sometimes Wisconsin weather just doesn't cooperate but Thurs. looks pretty rainy and Friday looks much nicer.  This is a beautiful area with lots of options for interesting compositions.

Training visual memory

Several years ago I took an online landscape class with Texas artist Deborah Paris.  She is a tonalist in the tradition of George Innes.  I am not inclined to paint that way these days but I'm still on her mailing list.  I just wanted to pass along her link because she delivered a paper that is online on the subject of developing visual memory. http://deborahparis-apaintinglife.blogspot.com/ My first choice is plein air most of the time, but I haven't seen or read something as focused on memory for painters as her paper is.

If you are interested in portrait or figure practice, 3 to 5 hour sessions are offered every week at Winnebago Studios on the east side (one block east of Atwood ave.)  Phil Salamone opens his studio for drawing or painting Mondays 5-10 pm, Thurs. 9 am-12, and Sat. 9-12 and 1-4 pm.  $15. drop in or less per session w. 3 month commitment.   He has standing easels and sitting benches on hand but I usually bring my plein air set up.  Phil also teaches at UW continuing studies.  The twice a year city-wide Open Studios on first Friday evenings of May and Oct. always brings a crowd to this multi-studio building.  I'm chasing the dream of incorporating figures into my landscapes eventually.  :)

Landscape oil painting by Deborah Paris

Plein Air Workshops in Madison April 30 and May 21

Kyle Martin is doing a couple one day plein air workshops here in Madison.  Jan F. and I are signed up for the May 21st one.  Kyle always stresses values and accurate drawing using the sight-size method.  Jan and I both enjoyed his still life workshop last month at Pat Dillion's gallery on Williamson St.  It's a very nice small gallery with some great work by local artists.   kyle-martin.blogspot.com/ 

East Side Landscapes

East Side Landscapes

Oil Paintings by Tom Gilbert

Ballweg Gallery - Goodman Community Center

April 1 through 29

As a Madison east-side resident I've painted many local scenes and this show includes a selection of these paintings from the past nine years.  I'm hoping viewers who live in this area can recognize some of these locations (artistic liberties were taken in many of them) and appreciate them.  I haven't set up a reception but hope some of our DCPAPA members will be able to stop by. - TG

Late Winter Spring Painting ?

We're getting close to scheduling the first group outing but not quite yet.  On one of those nicer days earlier this month I also got out to Indian lake and did this painting.  It felt like a spring day so I was surprised when I got home, looked at it again, and noticed it looked like a fall painting.  So I checked the colors again from a photo I took and realized it really wasn't a spring scene (not a trace of green) but was a late winter scene. But still, my colors were off.  I suppose I could claim to be exaggerating colors for artistic purposes, but I really would have preferred to get closer to the actual colors.  The actual grass color (with the sun on it) was a whitish, washed out gray-beige of some sort.  I'll have to try for that color next time.

Indian Lake and Pheasant Branch

Gouache in sketchbook at Indian Lake

A few weeks ago I got a new sketchbook from Dick Blick and took it out to Indian Lake on March 11th and to Pheasant Branch the next day.  It's a huge 11x14 Strathmore hardbound one with their excellent 500 series paper for mixed media.  A two page spread like this is 21 x 13 which for me is a pretty ambitious outdoor watercolor.  I recently started painting with gouache which is opaque watercolor that has a nice matte finish.  This is the best 90lb paper I have found for standing up to lots of water.  So far I have tried Schminke and M. Graham brands of artists' gouache and both are excellent.  I don't care for Designer Gouache esp. the Winsor Newton which I think smells really bad although I guess some people like the smell.  I find it much different than working with transparent watercolor and not any easier.  Guess there is no such thing as easy when it comes to painting.  But is was fun to be outdoors again with a brush in hand.

Frederick's Hill - Gouache in sketchbook at Pheasant Branch

Opening reception 5-7pm Friday March 11th - Monroe Arts Center, Monroe Wi

A new show, Seasons of the Sugar River - Metamorphosis, opens this Friday.  Both Jan Norsetter and Jonathan Wilde will have work in this show along with other area landscape artists.  The opening is from 5 to 7 pm and a Gallery Talk will be given at 5:30 pm.   www.monroeartscenter.com

Monroe Arts Center

Gallery Night in Paoli April 15th: Jan Norsetter and Jonathan Wilde

John Ribble's current show at Artisan Gallery, Paoli

DCPAPA painters Jan Norsetter's and Jonathan Wilde's latest shows will  open on April 15th in Paoli.  Zazen and Artisan Galleries will both be participating in Gallery Night there and will have lots of great art on view.  Madison plein air artist John Ribble has a wonderful show at Artisan right now through April 10th.

Jonathan Wilde's Landscape in Oil

WRAA Show at the Pyle Center February 27 - April 9 2016

Pyle Center - 702 Langdon St.

Several DCPAPA painters have work in this year's Wisconsin Regional Art Program exhibit at the Pyle Center in Madison.  Yesterday I saw paintings by Tom Gilbert, Wendy Crone, Tracy Wiklund, Patricia Duren, Ching Kung, Linda Camino, Nan Zimdars and myself.  Great work everyone!!  If I have overlooked anyone please let me know.  If you have not been to the Pyle Center before it is well worth the trip although parking is a challenge and the closest public parking is a block and a half away at the Lake St. ramp.  There is some excellent permanent art by Wisconsin artists on view there as well.  A huge oil painting by Tom Uttech is hung near the main entrance.  A worker there told me that Tom had to paint it on site due to its large size.  The show is hung on the first and second floors until it comes down on April 9th.  The program is open to any amateur Wisconsin artist and their website is here:  http://continuingstudies.wisc.edu/art/wisconsin-regional-art-program/conference.htm

Gouache for Winter Plein Air Painting

Pen & Gouache sketches in 9x12 Strathmore Visual Journal for  Mixed Media

Recently I went to Curtis Prairie at the UW  Arboretum to do a couple quick sketches with a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen.  I chose it because it covers alot of ground fast and can make a variety of marks. The black ink is waterproof and I wanted to use gouache for color.  Gouache is basically opaque watercolor paint but it can be somewhat transparent depending on how much water is used.  It was well below freezing so painting the colors had to wait until I got home.  Marc Hanson, who used to paint in rural Minnesota and now lives in Colorado, painted great little gouache studies in his car in the winter time.  Like watercolor it needs to be above freezing to paint outdoors with it.
  Last night I watched James Gurney's excellent video "Gouache in the Wild" to learn more about using the medium for plein air painting. It covers basic information about the medium and several demos, mostly plein air and also a still life.  You can view a preview of it on his website: gurneyjourney.blogspot.com.  

January 2016

Terrytown Barn 9x12" oil on panel by Kyle Martin

I just came across DCPAPA artist, Kyle Martin's blog http://kyle-martin.blogspot.com/  and noticed he is doing a 30 paintings in 30 day project.  Last year I tried that around the same time of year but didn't quite make it to 30.  I did well over 20, though and I felt I really learned alot.  Mine were all studio paintings and mostly still lifes.  One thing I learned was that still lifes are easier to paint than landscapes, especially plein air landscapes.  I think Kyle excels at painting en plein air.

My only recent on location paintings have been watercolor sketches in nice warm coffee shops.  I forgot how much fun and how challenging that can be.  Just a reminder that Madison also has a group called Draw: Madison that meets monthly (indoors in cold weather) for sketching and like DCPAPA is a very welcoming group.  Their events calendar can be found on their blog: http://drawmadison.blogspot.com/.

                                                   Happy New Year to DCPAPA!!!!!

American Impressionists - Woodson Art Museum

Edward Willis Redfield, Winter in the Valley, ca. 1905-1915, oil on canvas

The Woodson Museum in Wausau's new exhibit opens tomorrow and runs through February 21st.  Entitled "The Lure of the Artists' Colony" it features works by John Singer Sargent, William Merritt Chase, Mary Cassatt and others.  The museum also has a wonderful permanent collection so allow plenty of time to see that, too.  It hosts the world famous"Birds in Art" exhibit every fall but their permanent collection is every bit as interesting and full of beautiful paintings. It's a nice day trip but the last time I went I stayed overnight at the Jefferson Street Inn downtown which was very nice and close to the museum.  The Woodson is well worth the trip!!   www.lywam.org/

Woodson Art Museum, Wausau Wi.