Baudette Beauty. Painting #95. Walleye Capital of the World.
Date Painted: April 3, 2020
Size: 18 x 24 stretched canvas
Baudette is known as the Walleye Capital of the World and for its year round fishing and many outdoor activities.
Let’s Get Started
This post is about my painting of Baudette Beauty. First, I’ll talk about the inspiration for this painting. When I talk about inspiration in this blog, it will normally be why I chose a certain subject or Bob Ross or other artist tutorial to follow. Then, I will go over the colors and equipment I used and that you will need if you want to try your hand at it or something similar. Next, I will expound a bit about my process. Finally, I’ll wrap up with some lessons that I learned from painting this picture and things I could have done better or wished I had known. So join me on this trip down memory lane as I recap my 95th painting.
The Inspiration for Baudette Beauty
Baudette Beauty was a commission from someone who I used to work with. They liked my style and wanted a special gift for their wife. Their wife was born and raised in the town of Baudette, Minnesota, a small town on the border with Canada. I combined some of the town’s key landmarks and incorporated them into one picture. Including the Rainy River Bridge and Willy Walleye.
Materials Needed
Colors
Don’t forget the Liquid Hwite!
Equipment
Process
Most of the painting was painted using your standard Bob Ross/Bill Alexander/Kevin Hill techniques. The sky, clouds, trees, and bushes. The other things such as the bridge and the water tower were a bit more challenging and took some time to figure out since I’m not used to painting those types of things.
The man-made structures were way outside of my comfort zone. Figuring out how to paint the bridge with the angles and all gave me artist block early on. It was quite the challenge. depth.
The water tower was another challenge. At first it was pretty flat but I managed to bring it to life a bit by adding some depth.
It wouldn’t be a Baudette scene without the famous Willy the Walleye statue! The statue wasn’t easy to paint. Though it’s a fish, it’s a statue of a fish so it didn’t require much realism. It was fun. Definitely not my style but I loved learning as I went along.
Final Thoughts
I had so much fun with this aside from the initial artist block I experienced early on. I wasn’t sure how I was gonna pull it off when asked. I’m glad I took on the challenge. It’s given me the confidence to try adding other things to my landscapes. I enjoyed trying my hand at these man-made structures into a Bob Ross style landscape.
I hope you enjoy this painting. In art, you can’t be afraid to try new things. Someone paying you to do it certainly gives you a little extra motivation!
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Happy Painting!