Allen Caucutt Critique, Patti Brady talk, Milwaukee Art Museum visit

Allen Caucutt (see blog post 2/16/09 fro more about him) came to Milwaukee Sketch Club last Tuesday and critiqued our pieces. He's very knowledgeable, kind and humorous, yet gives us something to work on. I finished my pencil, colored pencil and marker wine bottle & grapes piece based on his input. He suggested that our club put out a calendar or book based on the pieces at our critique. I think it would be better if we started a blog like WIPAPA, Wisconsin Plein Air Painters Association. http://wipapa.blogspot.com/

Saw Patti Brady this Friday. Very knowledgeable. She talked about testing what your materials will do and keeping notes to build a vocabulary that you can draw upon when you paint. Acrylics don't stick to glass or plastic bags so you can create "skins". Fiber paste creates a paper like surface and glass bead ground. Micaceous iron oxide can be put on watercolor paper then drawn on top of it with color pencil or mixed with acrylic paints to create different effects. People asked about "varnishing" paintings. Basically first you put on a barrier layer on first then the removable msa varnish. More info and videos along with recommended best practices are available on Golden's website. http://www.goldenpaints.com/artist/wap/artist.php?uid=3 . Saw Bill from Milwaukee Sketch club and he mentioned that he is in Wauwautosa painters group /sketch club that meets at Wauwatos Hart Park Senior Center http://hartpark.org/ on Monday nights but I couldn't find any info on the web about this group.

Went to the Milwaukee Art Museum to see the Jan Lievens Exhibit with a friend who hadn't see it yet. There was an artist making a copy in pastel of one Lieven's pictures.

Saw Class Pictures: Photographs by Dawoud Bey http://www.artnet.com/artist/2433/dawoud-bey.html . Very interesting.

Went over by the Georgia O'Keefe paintings and they had an activity going on where you could paint with oil pastels or sketch with pencils. So we sat down and copied Georgia O'Keefe's Lake George autumn 1923.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_O%27Keeffe
• http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/georgia-okeeffe/about-the-painter/55/
  
• http://www.art.com/products/p10071301-sa-i1285995/georgia-okeeffe-lake-george-autumn-1927.htm?sorig=cat&sorigid=0&dimvals=5000514&ui=fa100a0e38ca42febbb70f701aa8a3ad .
  

My drawing looks a bit different than the original and the poster I found on line doesn't look exactly like the original either. Milwaukee has one of the largest Georgia O'Keefe collections outside of New Mexico according the facilitator artist. Also she said you could come & sketch with pencil anytime.