West of the Fox Valley is a little town called Kaneville. On any given Friday afternoon, in a large, sunny classroom in the Community Center, a part of once was  the old Kaneville High School, students are learning about and creating watercolor paintings, as well as enjoying the camaraderie of fellow artists. 

Classes are held every Friday afternoon from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. They are open to all students of all levels of expertise. We have continuing students of every level, all very enthusiastic and welcoming. In each session there will be a critique of work completed the previous week, a new demo, then time to create your own watercolor painting. Consider starting or continuing your art journey and join us on Friday afternoons.

​Contact me at rjkwatercolors@gmail.com for more information, and a list of supplies you will want to bring to your first class!

Thank you to all who came out  Saturday, December 7th for the Christmas in Kaneville festivities. And thank you for all the raffle ticket submissions. The Kaneville Historical Society is grateful for the donations. The $128.00 in raffle ticket sales will help continue their upkeep of the Benton House and the Farley House, and in the preservation of historical artifacts important to the local story of Kaneville.

The winner of the demonstration painting is Lynette Werdin, our matriarch
​of Kaneville, and the vice-president of the Kaneville Historical Society. Congratulations, Lynette!

                 Set up                                         In Progress                     Visitors & Questions                        

Lynette purchasing what would be the winning ticket!
​And the final demonstration painting.

Kaneville's annual holiday celebration is Saturday, December 7, 2019. Among the events around town, the bank will have treats, the library will have crafts, stories and book sale, and you may find the perfect gift at the craft show in the gym, all located in the Kaneville Community Center at the corner of Harter and Main Street Road –2S101 Harter Rd, Kaneville, IL 60144. 

As part of the festivities, I will be in the gym, doing a demonstration painting. The piece will be completed and framed, to be raffled off, with all proceeds donated to the Kaneville Historical Society, whose mission is to collect and preserve artifacts and documentary materials of the town, and to educate, and promote its history. The raffle tickets are $1.00.  If you can't come that day, and you would like to participate in the drawing, you have a little bit of time to mail in money for tickets. 
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Send to:
Robert J Krajecki
46W420 Main Street Rd
​Elburn, IL 60119 

​The winner need not be present.  You don't have to be here to win, but come out, visit Santa, buy some cookies by the pound at the church, or grab some free peppermint ice cream or hot cocoa at "The Purple Store". 

Last year's winner was a current student in my Kaneville watercolor class-Melissa Brouilette -the painting here.

A look back: a demo painting in progress, a potential future student, and another happy winner -a Kaneville resident!

To illustrate some of the techniques that can be used in watercolor painting, I used several in a recent demonstration painting. 

In the first wash, working very wet, I used salt to create a texture. Small grained table salt and large grained kosher salt pushes the pigment away as it melts. This works for foliage, rocks and gravel roads.

 The second technique that I used was scraping and scratching.
In the trunk of the tree, I scraped while the paint was still wet.

Scratching when the paint is wet creates a groove in the paper that will fill in with pigment to create a dark area. When the paint is semi-wet, the scratch marks will not fill in completely, leaving a lighter mark of the color that was scratched into.

I scratched into the foreground in areas where the paint was dry. You can remove all of the paint, right through to the white of the paper when the paint is dry.

Finally, in the foreground, while very wet, I blotted with a soft tissue to lift some of the pigment in random shapes, which were then used to create grass- like textures.

While fun to experiment with, focusing on techniques don't make a painting successful! In a good painting, drawing must be accurate, the values or form must be correct, the composition must be good, and the color correct in relation to the light source. Experiment with ways of adding texture, and the interesting techniques that can add even more depth to your paintings.

My favorite subject to paint is waterfalls. Traveling to Bond Falls in Michigan which has several falls is always a pleasure for gathering more subject matter to paint.
On one trip, satisfied with the  many photos of the rocks and water around the main fall, I was ready to leave. On the way back to my car I noticed this little area cast perfectly in light and shadow.  At any other time I would not have noticed it. 
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The maple tree seedling against the dark background was the subject that I used to paint "Reaching For the Light" which received an Honorable Mention in the recent Illinois Watercolor Members show.

You don't have to travel to exotic places. Very often the perfect reference for inspiration is right at your feet, beckoning in a ray of afternoon sunlight.

As a teacher and painter for almost 50 years, my passion has always been watercolor painting. A difficult medium to begin with, painting without using any opaque medium is even more challenging. To gain signature status in the Transparent watercolor Society of America, an artist must meet the strict criteria set forth by the society, and be accepted into three separate annual exhibits.
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In my previous blog I announced that my painting "D and M Falls" was accepted into the Transparent Watercolor Society's annual exhibit and awards dinner, when I would be awarded signature status into the TWSA. 

I enjoyed great conversation with many of my peers, as well as with several of my students who came to share in the days' events, and celebrate with us.

Donna Jill Witty, TWSA Master, president of the TWSA, and former student of mine, gave a very personal, touching presentation, expressing gratitude to me for her own success as a professional artist. I was deeply moved by her words.

I was also awarded the $1000 Winslow Homer Award, and the painting was sold as well!

It was a rewarding time of success, surprises and celebration!

The title of the painting is "D and M Falls". Debbie on the right and Melissa are the "D & M" for contributing to the success of this painting.

Photorealism, abstraction, impressionism and everything in-between has fallen in and out of popularity through the ages. 
The current trend in the world of transparent watercolor is photorealism. Looking at the work coming from most of the watercolor societies in this country, it is evident that the majority of selected paintings and winning entries are in this genre.

While I am not  a photo-realistic painter, I generally enter work in three national shows each year. 

It may be tempting for artists to alter their style to meet the changing trends in art. It certainly can be an opportunity for growth, to challenge an artist out of their comfort zone. Yet it is also important to stay true to yourself, to continue to work in the medium and manner that gives you joy in your craft, in whatever style that may be.

The Midwest Watercolor Society was started in the 1970s by several midwest watercolorists including my teacher and mentor, Mr. Irving Shapiro. It grew from a regional show to a national exhibit, and became The Transparent Watercolor Society of America, with artists entering their work from across the country.. I have entered the two paintings below into their upcoming annual national exhibit.

Persistence pays off.

Step 4 is where I started to get into trouble. I wanted more contrast and intensity in the foreground rocks and water, but began to lose the form of each element. To achieve more form in the center of interest, I added color to the fallen tree trunks.

When I started art school long ago, one of my instructors said that if I wanted to be a good artist, one of the first things I should do is to buy a ream of typing paper and fill it with lines. First draw vertical lines on all of the sheets of paper, and on both sides. Then draw horizontal lines.
Then draw diagonal lines from left to right, and finally diagonal lines from right to left. The lines also had to be spaced equally apart.

So, I bought a ream of paper (which is 500 sheets) and got to work.  By the time I filled about 40 sheets, I got bored. It was not an exciting exercise. After all, I wanted to be an artist not a draftsman!
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​After my first year of studies, I took up watercolor painting and found out the importance of that exercise. 

I understood that I had finally left behind my coloring book days, and the grueling practice sessions learning cursive handwriting–all lessons learned using only the wrist. 

However, in drawing and painting, those habits will not serve you well. You will find that movements with your wrist are restricting, resulting in you having to continually turn your paper or canvas. The line work will lack fluidity.

You will have a bit more range of motion with movement from your elbow.

​But drawing from your shoulder will give you unlimited range of motion, especially when working on a larger piece.

Once you are able to control movement from your shoulder, you are more easily able to draw very small and very large lines in any direction without having to move your drawing surface around.

"Old Tree in Lone Grove"   28"X 16" 
​Drawing from the shoulder enabled me to make the initial drawing of this painting with more flow to capture the fluidity and continuity of the branches.