Copying Musuem Masterpieces with Ohio Plein Air Painters

Here are some of the artists I painted with at the Cincinnati Art Musuem this weekend. The Southwest Ohio Plein Air Painters have copied masterpieces every January for the past few years.

I learn so much from doing this and discovered a new local artist this time, John Ellsworth Weis, whose painting "Yesterday" I worked on copying.

Born in Kentucky, John moved to Cincinnati (Norwood) as a child. When studying at the Art Academy with the likes of Frank Duveneck and Herman Wessel, he so impressed teachers that he was offered a position on the faculty at the age of 22. Also a poet, writer, philosopher and member of the Literary Club, John taught at the Art Academy for thirty eight years and was president of the Cincinnati Art Club from 1927-1928. I loved the feeling of this painting I'm copying, in acrylics instead of oils, and all my friends here said it looks like one of my "happy houses."

I'm starting out Monday on a great high, for today I realized I sold more paintings in the last six months than I did in all of 2008; not more revenue but a lot more paintings, so I'm excited about that.