Wisconsin has had several perfect weather days in a row which means I would have been committing a literal crime if I didn't do some Plein Air painting. After not having any paintings win any awards at the Wisconsin State Fair, I took that as a sign that I need to continue to keep working hard at improving. Luckily, I did sell the quick-paint piece which covered the entrance fee and the Gate Queen will be the proud owner of the other two larger pieces. The only one left is the painting of the four kids eating on the curb, which I have some personal connection with and am happy to bring home.
I have learned some lessons from the Fair and have been motivated to get those lessons applied. I have been working on some different combinations of paint and trying some different techniques for dealing with greens, shadows, and trees. I did a tree study and figured out some great combinations but I have much to learn. Sorta like playing video games where you have to do the right order of buttons at the right time, there can be a stiff learning curve to get the timing right.
Another take-away from the Fair is that I need the option for a flat surface, especially with watercolor. I made a slight addition to painter's box. I used epoxy to secure a plastic panel and heavy duty cardboard sheet together. I measured the slots of the lower portion of the box, allowing the panel to slide in. It could act as a counter-weight and provide a flat surface to paint on.
I signed up for a last minute plein air event in Pewaukee, WI, a small fishing town between Madison and Milwaukee. An appreciative group of painters, historians, and community members came together at the Clark House Museum. This quaint area features an historic inn and a manicured grassy area complete with gazebo, ice house, and barn. The property was crawling with painters and I settled on an area near the ice house. I asked a few questions about the history of the area and how to pronounce the name of the town. I was trying 10 different guesses on my drive over. Pee-you-walkie? Puh-walkie? Puh-walkie?! It's PEEwalkie. This town used to specialize in selling large blocks of ice from the lake before refrigerators, which is pretty cool (see what I did there?) They also used to sell the Necco products of old, like Sweethearts and Necco Wafers!
I did my value study quickly. This is yet another thing I've traditionally skipped out on, so it's a pretty big deal. I've come to understand their usefulness. I think prior to now, when painting was still only a hobby, it felt like a waste of the valuable and limited time I had to paint in the first place. It's not logical or anything, just something have tried to come to grips with.
I met some fascinating people while painting. One gentleman who carried a hard plastic photo of indigenous elders blessing his large wooden sculpture of a Chief's head who told similar stories over and over to different folks. If I sound annoyed, I'm not. He was a really nice guy who really understood his audience. He rode around on this speedy electric scooter that I stood near and everyone loved it, thinking it was mine. Folks also had many nice comments about the painters box, yet again! I met the president of the Wisconsin Watercolor Society and we had a nice chat about how hard it is to do watercolor Plein air, this being his first attempt. The man is very skilled and, of course, rocked it.
At the end, I walked away with an honorable mention and I sold my painting to a wonderfully kind and thoughtful woman who said my painting spoke to her. I was delighted to have it go to someone with such a sweet and helpful disposition. Shout out to Joan! She was also very patient in working out payment with me and the arts organization that put on the event.
Finally, today I was back to the Wisconsin State Fair to finish up outstanding business with the paintings that were submitted, sold, and bring back anything unsold. I got to see all the winners up close and several of them were done by the ladies I shared lunch with last week! Huge congratulations to Debbie (sweeping up numerous awards) and Kristin (a quick-paint award)! It was wonderful to see that many paintings from the event sold and many others that won awards.
Since I made the trip back to West Allis, I wanted to make the most of the day. I decided to be ambitious and take the 18 bus to the Third Ward of Milwaukee and do some plein air painting. I had a moment of recognizing how friggin' awesome my life is that I could do such a thing as my job today. Pretty awesome. The Third Ward part of Milwaukee has been my favorite so far, as it is considered the historic and artsy part of the city, featuring many beautiful, old brick buildings, green spaces, walkable paths along the water, and very cute but loud gulls. Despite my departure from working in public transportation, I greatly appreciate it and will continue to take it. If you ever really want to engage with a city and it's people, take public transportation. Plus, save some money and avoid parking stressors!
I wandered around a bit until I found the place that spoke to me. I found it in the form of a partially obscured camp trailer amongst a variety of boats. I also happened to love the different shapes of buildings and green growth surrounding the scene. The growth on top of the buildings and vines really come together making a scene much more interesting to look at. I did my value study, and it helped me work out some of the spatial relationships, not just values. As I worked through that I made sure to do much more pencil work before adding any paint. When doing comics, several people would tell me all time I needed to do more pencils and pre-work. They were right (grumble grumble) so I am doing the thing much more intentionally now.
Several wonderfully friendly folks came by and chatted. A group with an engineering conference, others out for a stroll, many making comments that "they can't draw a stick figure" or something along those lines. Many different boaters went by with comments, some event stopped to see what I had been doing and shared some stories of their weekend. One group (family) just had a wedding this past weekend for younger family members. We had a good chat and shared some music.
Several folks who have done watercolor came by and had comments about it's difficulty when comparing it to acrylics or oils. It is said often, watercolor is not forgiving. Acrylics and oils can be layered differently, watercolor is very persnickety. In the end, I am a bad salesperson in the moment and never really made a serious effort to sell the piece. Looking back, it's another pain point to improve on. All well, it turned out in the end, just a light sunburn and a perfectly beautiful day to paint. It's not always sunshine and rainbows, but these last few days have been welcomed and cherished. Off to Nevada next for Watercolor Carson City 2024!
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