Events

We are excited to bring back “Best of the Best,” the renowned gallery exhibition, featuring the works of more than 50 award-winning artists from 12 suburban art organizations. The exhibit allows artists and art lovers an opportunity to view the work of artists who have been recognized by their peers. Judges will award ribbons and cash prizes to the best pieces.

Please join us!
Awards ceremony and artists reception
Sunday, Feb. 4, from 2 – 4 pm.

The exhibit can also be viewed Feb. 3 – 27 during our gallery hours, Mon. – Fri. from 9 am – 5 pm, and Saturdays from 9 am – 2 pm.

This year’s participating organizations are: Addison Art Guild, Artists’ Association of Elk Grove Village, Aurora Art League, Downers Grove Art League, DuPage Art League, Elmhurst Artists’ Guild, La Grange Art Guild, Lemont Artists Guild, Midwest Collage Society, Naperville Art League, Oak Brook Art League, and Yellow House Artists. 

Artwork: 2021 Best of Show “Nurses in Pandemic Times” by Karla Wong

Monday Night Artist Demonstrations are a FREE event offered to all —members and non-members alike—by the DuPage Art League in partnership with the Wheaton Public Library. They occur on the third Monday of every month from September through April (except December) from 6:30pm – 8:30pm. Artists and experts connected with the arts demonstrate their craft, give talks, and share their secrets. These presentations are fun, relaxed and casual opportunities to mingle with fellow artists and learn something new.

Monday Night Artist Demonstrations are filmed either at the artist’s studio and viewed via Zoom or as a hybrid presentation at the Wheaton Public Library (225 N. Cross Street, Wheaton, Illinois) unless otherwise noted. Please check each event for specifics on location and registration.

These demonstrations are FREE to members and non-members, so enjoy the presentation with a friend! All attendees are welcome to bring a plate of baked goods to share for the refreshments table.

Missed a past Monday Night Programs? Scroll down to view videos of recorded demos.

From highly slick to gritty and rough, the surface you paint on
informs how paint is applied. From acrylic grounds for water media,
to papers and alternative surfaces (Plexiglas, wood, aluminum), we’ll
look at a variety of samples, as well as experience hands on
substrates.

Register for this free program by using this link

www.wheatonlibrary.org/calendar

Learn how to create a unique portrait incorporating drawing, hand-written text and color to portray features, hair, clothing, and shadows. Wes Douglas will explain word sources, photo sizes, planning, and tools, showing many types of portrait examples.

Local artist Kwame Aborampa’s distinctive style combines nature and street scenes, often inspired by his native Ghana. The characters portrayed and the stories told become an elaborate narrative. Provided in partnership with the Wheaton Public Library.

Dan Danielson teaches how to discover, appreciate, and paint animals, birds, insects, and other amazing creatures.  Dan’s loose watercolor technique and spontaneous style is fun to watch and tempting to try.

Artist Joel Fremion demonstrated his unique technique of fabric collage, incorporating fabrics, leathers, and paints to create detailed, tactile landscape, still life, and portrait pieces sewn to canvas backs.

Artist Michael Latala demonstrated his process,techniques, and materials to produce a portrait from a live model using a full palette of pastels. Mr. Latala is a successful artist and illustrator who expresses the natural beauty in the world through his handling of materials such as oil paint, pastels and charcoal. His landscapes, still life, figurative, and portrait work offer a fresh and seemingly effortless symphony of color.

Watch artist, author, illustrator and professor, Peggy Macnamara, Artist-in-Residence at Chicago’s Field Museum, as she demonstrates how to utilize careful observations of nature to gain understanding of form and color.

We wrapped up our 2022-2023 Monday Night Program on April 17, 2023, with a virtual presentation by Fiber/Portrait artist, Faith Humphrey Hill. Ms. Hill shared how she utilizes hacked knitting machines from the 1950’s-1980’s to transfer original drawings into knit animations and tapestries that are 5’x 7’ tall. This program was a virtual program.

Potter Karen Smith explained the differences between pottery and ceramics, along with various techniques that should be used to create a lasting piece of art. Techniques that include throwing on a wheel, slab building, coil building, and basic sculpting were discussed. She demonstrated some of these techniques using stoneware clay to create a functional piece of art.

Location: Wheaton Public Library Meeting Room A or via Zoom

Andy Warhol – The American Dream

Sunday, March 19, 2pm
DuPage Art League
FREE and Open to the Public

Clayton Beck showed how to work from life in oil paints. It’s not that complicated and he demonstrated the ease of oil painting from life during this hybrid Monday Night Program.

Kay Wahlgren demonstrated her techniques of watercolor, taking you beyond the basics of dry brush, wet-into-wet, and the combination of both techniques. There are many tips and tricks that she will shared to get the finished result that you desire in your watercolors.

Mark Sarazen described the history of giclee, its role in digital print making, and how it is produced. The process includes image capture and scanning, file preparation, and choosing printer options to achieve the optimal result.

Artist Maggie Capettini demonstrated her techniques to work efficiently and with focus whether painting outdoors or in. She combined oil washes, paint applied thickly with knives, as well as pigment sticks to capture dynamic and impressionistic scenes.

Artist Fatima Figueiredo developed a fall scene, creating tension between soft and crisp edges by taking advantage of various levels of moisture during the process.

Acclaimed artist and teacher Dan Danielson demonstrated his bold, loose, and fun watercolor techniques. Dan insists that there is nothing the painter can do wrong. He tells his students that, through persistence and desire to improve, they will learn by not being afraid to make mistakes.

Mary Ann discussed materials and techniques, including thumbnail studies to understand composition and value, and employing underpainting techniques on sanded pastel paper.

Working from a photo reference, pastel artist Mike Kolasinski discussed and demonstrated his 13 fundamental elements to produce images with visual excitement and passion. Finding inspiration in nature’s light and shadow in the beauty of everyday, undisturbed scenes, he creates boldly expressive compositions. Mike begins with soft pastels and builds up the intensity with layers of bright, pure colors. In seeking to understand the philosophy of nature as a whole and integral part of ourselves, he is a visual activist for the natural world.

Acclaimed artist James Swanson is a member of Oil Painters of America, the National Oil &  Acrylic Society, and a Signature Member of the American Impressionists Society. Jim demonstrated how to create interesting color mixes, distinguish warm and cool colors, and  nail the focus of the painting. https://www.jamesswansonpainting.com/portfolios to view his work

https://www.donnacastellanosdesign.com/gallery

We developed knowledge and love for oil painting with Marge Hall, award-winning floral portrait artist. Marge provided useful tips for beginners to advanced artists.

Artist Don Yang will demonstrated direct painting (‘alla prima’) from a live model. He emphasized capturing accurate proportion, the form of the head, and facial color variations. These techniques create a convincing likeness in an oil sketch within a limited time.

Knowing where you are going with that first stroke is the single most important step in a successful painting. The sketch is like a map to your wildest journey. Large format watercolor artist Michael Ireland stressed the importance of drawing and how it sets the stage for multiple passes of glazes and color washes.

Award-winning artist, Brian Sauerland,  discussed his process of working with pastels. He demonstrated, via Zoom, how subtle shifts in color and value can create an impactful winter scene. Capturing the peacefulness of winter requires an understanding of the limits of photographic references, a loose hand, and a little inspiration.

www.sauerlandstudio.com

Traditional Watercolor Painting – 50 Years in 3 Steps 

There are many different techniques for painting in watercolor. With 50 years of experience, continued study and experimentation, Bob holds true to the classical methods. He highlighted the two important aspects that make watercolors special. One is the transparency that makes watercolors so bright and fresh. He  showed how to achieve and maintain that freshness. The other is the way pigments separate – why they do, and how to take advantage of the nuances to create interesting textures. We watched him simplify a painting into three steps:

1. Paint the abstraction pattern of light and dark shapes.
2. Define shape and form.
3. Add details to emphasize the center of interest.

www.robertkrajecki.com