ArtWalk Demo

The Dicken's Opera House, Longmont, Watercolor on paper, 22x15

Last Friday night, I did a live demonstration at a street fair. It was the first time I did a demo outdoors in the evening. The Main Street in Longmont was closed to traffic at 6:30pm and then all the setup activity started, so I was not able to start painting until 7pm. I anticipated I would not have daylight for long, so I took a photo of the street corner scene I wanted to paint two days before, and used that as my reference. I also did all the pencil drawing ahead of time, so that I would be able to complete the painting during the demo.
I brought a daylight lamp, but that meant intense glare on the paper and less than enough light where my palette was. But I did complete my painting and was quite happy with it, and the viewers gave good feedback as well. This is a view of the Old Opera House in Longmont, a very nice building... so nice in fact that I accidentally allowed it to compete too much with the other focus area of the scene, where all of the figures were.

This is a photo of my setup. I used M Graham watercolor paints (mostly azo orange, cadmium red light, viridian, cobalt blue, cobalt teal, ultramarine blue and quinacridone rust, in addition to some neutral tint) and squirrel mop brushes, and a synthetic round for details. I worked on a half sheet of Arches 140lb Rough paper, and it took me one hour and 45 minutes.

Upcoming Demo at ArtWalk

A week from today, on September 16th, I will be doing a painting demonstration, this time in Longmont, as part of the ArtWalk festival on Main Street. I will probably do a street scene of that very location. I always have fun on these occasions, the dialog with the viewers is stimulating and I end up learning a lot from verbalizing the process to the audience and getting questions and immediate feedback. If you have a chance, please stop by! The demo starts at 6:30 pm, at the ArtWalk demo booth on 4th and Main, across from Ziggy's Coffee.
(Photo courtesy of Gene Youngmann)

Mammoth Mine and Louisville Fine Art Show

Standing Guard (Mammoth Mine), watercolor on Aquabord, 20x16

This painting was done on location at the Mammoth Mine site in Boulder County. It was painted on a beautiful June morning, the building has beautiful aged colors and a slanting stance that speaks of its age and service, and it is guarded on all flanks by aspen trees. It was a privilege to get to paint on this site, thanks to a permit from the Boulder Country Parks and Open Spaces administration as part of their first plein air exhibit event, since this location is closed to the public. The painting is now sold and I am very pleased that the buyer is someone who knew this location growing up and appreciates the environment and feelings that the painting evokes.

On a different note, this has been a busy season, with overlapping shows. Just as the Boulder County plein air exhibit came to a close, it was time for the opening reception of the Louisville National Fine Art Exhibit, last night. The event was very well attended by many artists and the local community. In fact to crowded to even take a photo together with my painting, but no regrets. I hope to return there during the week for a calmer viewing of the great paintings in the show.