Plein Air Painting: Cherokee Park July 7th, 8am

Please note Cherokee Park is not the same as Cherokee Marsh (see map below).  We will paint from 8am to 11:30 then have lunch at Marla's home nearby (see calendar for more info).

Jan Norsetter's painting from last year's outing at this location.

Another Pheasant Branch Painting

This is almost the same view as what Jan F. painted.  I took a clue from your painting, Jan, and added some violet to contrast the green, and then took some liberties with inventing a sky and associated light.

Tom Gilbert

Pheasant Branch

I decided to work on this further at home.  Still not sure it's working, but I'm a bit happier with it than I was the other night.   Simplified the foreground tree as per Tom's suggestion (probably could do more), and got rid of an extraneous bush that was awkwardly placed.  I'm still not sure if the sky is working - I definitely struggled with the fact that the view faced west.  I'm not sure how to deal with the bright glare of the low sun - next time I'll try to pick a view opposite the sun!

Fall 2015 Art Junket

Roberta Condon asked me to share this with DCPAPA...

Pheasant Branch Sky painting

I enjoyed painting last night.  The sky was dramatic and looked sort of like this.

I also enjoyed our gathering after the event.  I learned a lot from everyone, but then I forgot it.  Perhaps we should make a page where people could post links as I already forgot the name of the college in New York, as well as the podcast and probably a bunch of other things.   I'll start with a link to the Epic Rap Battle I mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGN5xaQkFk0

Plein Air Painting at Pheasant Branch 5:30pm June 23rd

Next Tuesday evening DCPAPA will paint at Pheasant Branch (north area - park in northernmost parking lot)  This is the view from the parking lot taken late last summer so things will be greener now.  Lots of interesting birds nest here. (For more on that check out Mike McDowell's blog: https://birddigiscoper.blogspot.com/

Empire Prairie Outing

We did have good weather for the Empire Prairies Natural Area outing.  They don't mow much there and I had hoped to get there before the grass got too tall.  I could just barely see over it ... I guess that's not too tall.  Various long vistas at this site.  Here's one.  I liked the rock in the foreground.  There's a little glare on this photo but you can get the gist of it.

Pat, really liked your watercolor in your last post.  Reminded me of Edward Seago's paintings.  I'm attaching one,  practically identical!

Tom

June 16th Plein Air Painting

It was a beautiful evening so I am guessing all the DCPAPA painters had a good time at the Westport Drumlin site.  Unfortunately I have been forbidden by my physical therapist to go out painting (or just about anything else) until my right knee heals.  So I did the next best thing and painted the sky over my patio and copied the scene from a book about watercolor painting by an English artist, James Fletcher-Watson.  I've been trying to learn about painting skies and trees.  Sometimes copying is one of the best ways to learn because you find out what works and what doesn't. It is always much harder than it looks.  I painted this on Arches 140 lb. cold-pressed.

June 11th Plein Air Painting Cancelled / RESCHEDULED TO 6/16/15 5:30pm

Tonight's painting outing postponed due to stormy weather forecast but will be rescheduled asap for sometime next week.  I found this view on the web.  Looks like a great view to paint.

Kyle Martin's "Shoe" Painting - Vilas Park May 27th

The pattern of light and dark was very easily seen on the piece of playground equipment. The color of the shoe was also very intense and immediately drew me in. The next time I paint this shoe, I think I'll leave some of the halation out, and simplify the shadow/light planes more. And add some kids! I can't wait for the next time to paint with the group, Cory and I had a great time.   Kyle Martin

Vilas Park May 27th

It was a lovely evening and I was so happy to see a good size turnout and at least one new DCPAPA painter.   This watercolor was painted on 140 lb Arches cold press.  

I am afraid I did not see anyone on Wednesday.

Here is my painting:

Vilas Park Outing

Had a great time painting at Vilas Park on Wednesday afternoon and especially enjoyed meeting up with everyone at the Union Terrace afterwards :)

Here's what I painted
9x12, oil on linen panel

Vilas Park - Paint date changed to Wed. 5/27 5pm

Here's just one choice for a plein air painting at Vilas Park.  Due to Rain in the forecast our painting date was changed to Wed. 5/27 - hopefully we will have a lovely evening for painting!

Ching Kung Paintings

The poets Donna Carnes and Blair Mathews, a former L & S dean, will exhibit their poems at the Pyle Center.  They have invited Kung to show his paintings to accompany their poems.  The paintings will be on sale, with proceeds going to the James F. Crow Institute for the Study of Evolution and the James F. Crow Professorship, administered through the Genetics Department, UW-Madison. 

Reception:   5 - 7 pm, Friday, June 5 

Pheasant Branch Trail Outing

The weather forecast for our second outing last week was uncertain but we ended up having a nice, although partly cloudy, morning.  A lot of birders were out and about.  I'm still trying to salvage a painting from that outing so I'm posting another painting from a few days earlier painted at Nine Springs park.  These spring days really lift the spirits.

Dane Co. Area Plein Air Workshop

I also noticed that one of our group, Jan Norstetter, is doing a workshop for painting en plein air with oils on June 6th at Whispering Woodlands.  I have taken several classes there and really enjoyed the experience.  I know one of my friends is signed up for this one.  As we know Jan is a terrific and award winning plein air painter! www.whispering-woodlands.com/

Kyle Martin New Show and Workshops

I am a big fan of Kyle's paintings and workshops.  This season he is offering 2 plein air workshops in the Baraboo/Reedsburg area and I signed up for the one in September.  Regardless of what style one paints in I think alot can be learned form Kyle's approach and I have found him to be an excellent teacher.  He also gives a great workshop on values that I took last year.  Check out his blog for details.  kyle-martin.blogspot.com

Bob Tarrell sent this in to alert DCPAPA painters about this event.

Indian Lake Outing

Had a nice day and a good group of people painting for our first outing of the year.  There were still more grays than spring greens but that's not so bad since we always get a large share of greens later on.  Here's my painting. Thanks Jan N. for your advice on this.  I touched it up at home trying to better work out a cool / warm contrast.

Tom Gilbert

Pansies

Sorry to have missed our first painting outing today but hope to get there next month.  I was able to sit out on my patio this afternoon and paint this little watercolor.  A beautiful spring day for the first outing and I hear that 4 painters made it out to Indian Lake.

Baraboo - Portage Area Paint Outings

Roberta Condon who lives in Portage, and has a studio and gallery there, is looking for people interested in plein air painting in her area.  She has scheduled a number of outings as listed in the attachment.  These are separate from our DCPAPA outings, but members who have no problem with traveling a bit further afield may wish to participate.  Anyone with questions can contact Roberta:

Roberta Condon                                        R. Condon Gallery & Studio
Mailing Address:                                        Fine Art, Gifts & Instruction                                                           223 W. Cook St., Portage WI 53901         723 Prospect Ave , Portage WI 53901
608-617-1733                                               608-617-1733
rcondon@charter.net                                 rcondon@charter.net 

Nan's Flowers

Plein Air Painting by Nan Zimdars

It's Spring!

Finally some warm and sunny weather and here's my first (decent) plein air painting of the spring. This took two trips to the Token Creek Conservancy park. A crane did fly by while I was painting so I included a bird.  It looks more like the rare "V" bird rather than a crane but I'm just starting to include birds and so need to work on this.    

I'll be sending a group email probably later today to schedule our first outing.

Tom Gilbert

Indian Lake Park

8x8 oil on panel

Painted in the studio from photos I took yesterday at Indian Lake.

First Plein Air Outing for 2015

Indian Lake Park

6 x 9 

10 x 16

 Yesterday the temperature was supposed to be 35 F but at Indian Lake with an approx 20 mph wind it was definitely colder.  The problem with pastels is that when it is cold it is like painting with ice cubes and you can't wear gloves.  Still it makes me work faster which often is a plus.  I stayed near my car so I could warm up before my fingers got frostbitten.  Love those heated seats! It was fun, though and as the sun went down the wind dropped so I took a nice walk and got some good reference photos to work from. I felt pretty pleased to have my first plein air session of 2015 done by mid January.  I am awaiting delivery of my new Open Box M oil paint box.  At least you can wear gloves when oil painting! Tom Gilbert said he got out yesterday, too so I hope he'll post his painting. All DCPAPA painters are welcome to email any winter paintings (they don't need to have been painted outdoors) to me or Tom and we will happily post them on the blog.

Front Seat Painting

Because it is much too cold to paint outdoors I decided to paint from a watercolor sketch I painted last year (sitting in my car) along the Wisconsin River near Sauk City.  I was out looking for eagles.  My camera does not photograph the colors accurately for oil paint.  (Does anyone know why this is?) This does not seem to happen as much with pastels or watercolor.  Neither oil painting is as successful as the watercolor sketch.  Partly I guess because I am not painting from life as I was for the sketch. But it was an interesting exercise and I remembered sitting in the car and painting very clearly.  It always amazes me how drawing and painting from life fixes places and experiences in our memory so well.  Also pictured is my "new" palette that I made by taping a 16x20 inch piece of glass to a larger piece of plexiglas with a sheet of grey paper in between.  I was using disposable palette paper but I like this much better. 

Virtual Paint Out

Here's some possible help for getting through the winter ... a virtual substitute for plein air painting. I've added a link labeled "Virtual Paint Out" (see right side column) that goes to a blog created by the painter Bill Guffey.  Every month Bill provides a location for painting.  This month it's Philadelphia. Last month it was Rome, Italy.  Participants can then go to Google Earth and use the Street View feature to find a scene to paint.  Paintings can then be submitted to Bill Guffey and he posts them on his blog.

Obviously it's not the same as actual plein air painting but I found it fun.  I did do a Rome painting (with Roman ruins in it, of course) and I'm currently working on a painting of the downtown Philadelphia skyline.  Check out Bill's blog for a more detailed explanation and instructions.

I haven't got out for snow painting quite yet (this coming week may be promising) but I did recently re-paint an old painting and am posting it below.  This is the Rutledge Street bridge across the Yahara River in Madison.

Tom Gilbert

Mary Diman and Chuck Bauer Paintings

Happy Thanksgiving to DCPAPA & Friends

Happy Thanksgiving to DCPAPA. Above is a plein air pastel sketch I painted last month at the Clearing in Door Co.  For those of you who know the campus I was sitting on the bluff behind the Schoolhouse facing Green and Ellison Bays.  It is a beautiful place where they have week long classes mostly in arts & crafts and nature study from May thru October and where I took my first watercolor class in 2004.  Their website is www.theclearing.org. The other photo I took yesterday in the UW Arboretum where I had a close encounter with these guys while taking reference photos for snow paintings.  Too cold for me to paint outdoors.  Bill Hosner is a pastelist who paints only outdoors; he paints beautiful winter paintings and says he has gotten frostbite at least twice.  When it's cold enough to get frostbitten I opt for the comforts of the studio.  Happy Holidays to everyone and feel free to email me or Tom any winter paintings you would like posted on the blog.  Stay warm!  Pat

Winter Painting

Last Monday we had our last scheduled group outing at Olbrich Gardens and had some fairly decent weather.  Seems like were mostly lucky this past year with the weather.  I'll contact the group members again next spring to schedule more outings.

Although we won't have scheduled outings during the winter I encourage everyone to use our member distribution list if you're planning on an outing and wish to invite others for company.  It would also be nice to keep some new posts going during the winter and invite all of you to post your winter paintings.  If you're not sure how to post it yourself simply email your image and any associated comments to Pat Wafer, or to me, and we will post it.

I want to thank all of you who came out and painted and made 2014 a successful year for the group.  And things look even more promising for 2015 with a few of you talking about retirement and being able to paint more often.  I personally appreciate the friends I've made and how they've helped me better understand my painting and how to improve.  And I'm not just referring to the details of technique, but, more importantly, how to think constructively and positively about painting.

To get us thinking about winter painting I'm posting four paintings by some of my favorite artists.  The top painting is by George Sotter who is famous for his many snow scene paintings.  The second is by Richard Thompson, a Wisconsin resident and a painter who I consider to be rather under-rated.  Then two paintings by living painters.  The stream scene is by Peggy Root.  I just recently discovered her paintings and have been quite impressed with how she seems to use a very distinct color scheme for every painting.  In other words, her paintings don't all look alike.  The bottom painting is by Mark Boedgers.  Just an exceptional painter who reminds of Richard Schmidt.  Mark has been at the Door County Plein Air event the past couple years.

Happy Painting!

Tom Gilbert

Indian Lake

I painted this last Monday afternoon at Indian Lake.  Probably the last day with temps in the 70's for a long while.

Lodi Ice Age Trail October 23, 2014

Here's my painting from our ice age trail outing. (6x12", oil on board). I knew what I wanted to capture and didn't have a lot of time. I laid down the basic components while I was there and added paint in the studio. I remember my impression of the scene was of bright greens, oranges and reds so that's what I added. When I look at the photos I took that day they look very beige. Also, there wasn't much going on in the sky so I added the clouds. A lot of artistic license, I know, but then, that's why we paint, right?

Lodi Ice Age Trail Outing

I'm attaching my painting from last week up near Lodi.  It seemed like a lot of the foliage color had faded but still some nice landscapes up there.  This is the same hill I painted last year at this time.

Tom Gilbert

Plein Air Paintings @ Charles Allis Art Museum, Milwaukee

Seeing the LightWisconsin Plein Air Painting
October 17 - January 11, 2015

Opening Reception
Friday, October 17
6:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Members Only Preview 5:30 to 6:00 p.m.

Seeing the Light explores Plein Air painting through the works of nine prominent Wisconsin artists. Each artist demonstrates their ability to play with light in their own unique way while painting outdoors. Focusing on architecture, street scenes or landscapes, these nine artists celebrate the beauty found in Wisconsin. Join us for a contemporary look at Wisconsin Plein Air painting, by our very own. Seeing the Light features the work of Lori Beringer, Matt Holt, Shelby Keefe, Tom Kubala, Darron Lillian, Kyle Martin, Mary Ulm Mayhew, Tim Nachreiner, and Bonnie Paruch.                                                                                                                                                                                                             ( I met Bonnie Paruch at her Door Co. studio last Saturday and she told me about this show at the Charles Allis Art Museum in Milwaukee.  Looks like a great show for Wisconsin plein air painters.)

Theodore Robinson and Sugar River Events

A good number of painters from our group just finished the Theodore Robinson Plein Air Event in Evansville this past Saturday.  The weather was a bit on the wet and cloudy side but we had eight days to paint so we did catch a few days (or partial days) of good weather.  And the country side fall colors were great.  Three best of show awards were awarded by the judges.  Congratulations to Jan Norsetter who won first prize and Diane Washa who won third.  Many quite beautiful paintings were produced.  I'm hoping those of you who participated will post some of your paintings.

I'm also attaching a notice for the "Seasons of the Sugar River Back Roads and Backwaters" show coming up in Monroe.  I have one painting in that show which I'm also attaching (since they somehow failed to put it on the poster ;-)

Tom Gilbert

Plein Air Study

This is a detail from a small pastel study I painted at Holy Wisdom Monastery this weekend.  Cropping can be very instructive.  Love the red of sumac in the fall.

Curtis Prairie - UW Arboretum

Plein air pastel I painted a couple weeks ago.  Lots of prairie flowers blooming esp purple and white asters.  Such great weather for painting this fall!