Our guest speaker for February was PPWS member Pat Wiles. She was a very entertaining speaker and demonstrator!
Pat drove up from Canyon City with one of her students. She told us a funny story about her student, (with her permission, of course) that after her first class, the student told Pat all her watercolor pans had dried up! Pat told us many humorous stories during her demonstration!
Pat loves painting plein air. She paints many animals and will actually sit in a cow pasture to sketch and paint them!
Pat began with a pencil drawing on a gessoed board. She prefers working on boards because you don’t need to mat them. Plus, since she moves her board all around in many directions, the board doesn’t flop around like paper!
Pat began with the sky, leaving the Aspen trees white. Pat mixes her colors until she gets the color she wants. She said she could probably never replicate some of her color mixes, since she has no idea what colors she used! She will also build up her colors in layers.
She then moved on to painting the cows. She likes paint drips, and by putting in some drips on the calf, she didn’t have to paint the legs!
Pat also has a unique way to remove excess water from her smaller brushes. After rinsing it, she pops it in her mouth to dry it! She said this shocks and horrifies her students! We were all a bit surprised too!
Using a pine tree stencil, Pat wet the inside of the stencil with water, then blotted the area dry with a paper towel. This lifted the paint underneath and gave her a ‘ghost’ tree. She also did this with a curly cue stenil on the larger cow to create ‘fur!”
Pat used the same curly cue stencil on the face of the cow, only this time adding color.
Another fun trick she showed us was a quick way to create snow! Using a piece of window screening, she painted on Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleedproof White. She placed the screen over the area she wanted snowfall, and blew through the screen! Brillant!
Using the side of a palette knife, Pat loaded the top side with a dark black color, then scraped it onto her painting, on its side, to create the Aspen tree branches.
After Pat finished her painting, in record time, I might add, she demonstrated how she uses Dorlane’s Wax Medium to seal it. She applies a thin coat with a soft piece of cloth and rubs it all over. Pat said it’s similar to shining your shoes! Just make sure to sign your painting before you apply the wax!
If you are interested in viewing more of Pat’s work or taking a class, please visit her website.
