Painting Demos at the Napa County Fair

Painting the undercoat of my demonstration painting. My painting A Dog with Mustard, painted of my dog Zoe, is in the background • photo © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Painting at the Napa County Fair, in the Calistoga Art Center, this weekend was fun. I decided to work on a mixed media piece, incorporating collage into the painting.

Explaining my painting process to visitors at the fair • photo © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Since this is Calistoga's 125th Anniversary year, and two weeks from now we'll be celebrating the town's birthday, I thought I'd create a piece called My Calistoga for that day's Calistoga-themed art show.

Arranging collage elements across the surface of the canvas • photo © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Of course, it's winding up way more complicated than I thought it would be initially... but it's still fun. It's 36" x 36". First, I painted an undercoat, and then chose pictures for the collage from photographs I've taken around town over the last few years.

Drawing in the composition of the painted portion of the painting (an image of Calistoga's Old Faithful Geyser), inside a frame of collaged photos • photo © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Next I began painting the central composition – an image of Calistoga's Old Faithful Geyser.

Blocking in big areas of color • photo © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

The next stage was blocking in the areas of color. I'm using a drybrushy, scumbley technique to apply the paint, because I want bits of the underpainting to show through. This is how far I got during my fair demonstrations. I'll be adding more photos as it progresses... and, if you're in Calistoga, you'll be able to see the results at the art show during Calistoga's birthday celebration in another week.