A BIG thank you to Mary Ellen Segraves for the wonderful demonstration at the April membership meeting. Approximately 80 attendees enjoyed and learned several new watercolor tips, tricks, and techniques from Mary Ellen. She also shared with the group many of her finished impressionistic watercolors.
From my first visits to the Art Institute as a child, I was drawn to the softness of the watercolor paintings as well as to the beauty and light of the Impressionists’ works. What I try to create are impressionistic watercolors – light, airy, soft. One of my instructors says that he approaches each painting as a problem to be solved, and I think it’s the same for me. How do I keep the light? How do I arrange the scene and the objects to create a pleasing composition? How do I convey the feeling with the least amount of detail? How do I get the “vision” that’s in my head onto the paper? I find satisfaction in the challenge.
Our October membership meeting featured David Becker as our demo artist. And what a fantastic demo it was. Not one… but two watercolors. One painting was on white paper and the other was on BLACK watercolor paper.
Since 1983, David had spent most of his artistic life and career in the city of Chicago. Becker studied at The American Academy of Art in Chicago and is the reason that a large majority of his subject matter comes from his life in the city that he loves so much.
Becker is the author of Watercolor Composition Made Easy, and How to Sketch with Watercolor. He has had two different articles published in International Artist Magazine and in Watercolor Magic. Has reached signature status to the Transparent Watercolor Society of America, and has won numerous awards for his work from watercolor societies around the country.
David Becker Artist Demo—Saturday October 1, 2022, 2pm
Open and FREE to the public. Oak Brook Public Library, 600 Oak Brook Road
You must PREREGISTER online at library website. Limited to 75.
Thank you Bob for an excellent, informative demonstration. It was a full house at the Oak Brook Public Library to watch Bob bring to life a beautiful landscape painting, and to hear Bob share his entertaining stories of painting on location.
Illinois Watercolor Society Meeting and Demo Bob Holmes Artist Demo—Saturday August 27, 2022, 2pm. Open and FREE to the public. Oak Brook Public Library, 600 Oak Brook Rd
PREREGISTRATION online at Oak Brook Public Library. Click link to register
“Although I have never lived on a farm I have always been drawn to the rural life of small towns and farms. As a child growing up in Iowa I remember vividly running around my uncles farm with my cousins, or fishing and swimming with friends along a river. Now, as an artist, I want to invoke feelings of the serenity and happiness I felt from these times. Capturing a quiet and reflective moment of the sun setting on a farm or melting snow along a gravel road as winter begins to give way to spring are some of the things I’m after. For me the granaries and farm buildings are monuments to the hard working and humble people that built them.”
PREREGISTRATION online at Oak Brook Public Library. Limited to 75. Illinois Watercolor Society Meeting and Demo Bob Holmes Artist Demo—Saturday August 27, 2022, 2pm.
If you missed the IWS June membership meeting, you missed an excellent demo of a very unique watercolor style by the very personable Joan Bredendick. Thank you Joan for sharing your beautiful technique and thought-provoking, expressive subjects. Demo was at The Oak Brook Public Library.
Joan Bredendick Artist Demo —Saturday June 18, 2022 2 p.m. Open and FREE to the public. In person at Oak Brook Public Library, 600 Oak Brook Rd
“I use watercolor paint as a medium without preconceptions of what a “watercolor” painting should look like. Bringing light, beauty, whimsy into your field of vision for the brief moment I have your attention. All art is significant.” —Joan Bredendick
Open and FREE to the public. Register online ASAP. Only 50 seats available. Oak Brook Public Library, 600 Oak Brook Road
Joan Bredendick Artist Demo —Saturday June 18, 2022 2 p.m. Free to the public. Limit 50. You must register. See above.
Bob Holmes Artist Demo — Saturday April 4, 2020 10 a.m. Open and FREE to the public. Oak Brook Public Library, 600 Oak Brook Rd
“Although I have never lived on a farm I have always been drawn to the rural life of small towns and farms. As a child growing up in Iowa I remember vividly running around my uncles farm with my cousins, or fishing and swimming with friends along a river. Now, as an artist, I want to invoke feelings of the serenity and happiness I felt from these times. Capturing a quiet and reflective moment of the sun setting on a farm or melting snow along a gravel road as winter begins to give way to spring are some of the things I’m after. For me the granaries and farm buildings are monuments to the hard working and humble people that built them.”
Bob Holmes Artist Demo —Saturday April 4, 2020 10 a.m Open and FREE to the public. Oak Brook Public Library, 600 Oak Brook Road
At our October meeting, Steve Puttrich demonstrated how to take a big-brush approach to creating a loose, fresh landscape. About 60 people enjoyed the two hour presentation.