Local watercolor artist John Grancorvitz often depicts western Wisconsin in landscapes, water scenes, portraits of pets, and cityscapes. He finds most of his subjects while out hiking, biking or just observing everyday life. John began painting with watercolor over 30 years ago because of its distinctive and airy effects. Grancorvitz has taken workshops and attended demos over the years but is overall self-taught. He has been a fixture at Art’s House in River Falls, teaching for six or seven years. His abilities demonstrate a master’s understanding of the medium.

“Many people take up watercolor painting because it usually takes less time than working with oil or acrylic paints,” Grancorvitz said. “It is also cheaper.”

He’s right about the paint being cheaper, but then most watercolor paintings require a mat, frame and glass to preserve and present it. A pad of cold press 140-pound watercolor paper Grancorvitz uses costs $24.57 for 12 sheets. So, the actual painting is cheaper, but display does cost.

One alluring attracting of watercolor is the paint’s translucent quality, and the way the gradiations of color show space and atmosphere. One question often asked of watercolor artists is: “How on earth did you do that?” Usually the question pertains to the white areas that remain untouched by paint to highlight white light hitting a surface. When asked about his white areas, Grancorvitz replied, “I use white right out of the tube for highlights. I leave larger white areas unpainted with the white of the paper showing through. For very few paintings, I’ll use masking fluid, but I try not to.”

When asked about the River Falls power plant painting, Grancorvitz said, “The power plant took me approximately two to four hours to paint. For planning purposes, much thought goes into a painting before I start. Finding the right composition from my reference photos is the first step. From there, it is a three-step process of laying down lights, mediums and darks.

“The hardest step in painting with watercolors is learning the best ratio of water to paint. Keeping values in mind while I paint is essential. I use a lot of wet-on-wet techniques along with dry brush.” Grancorvitz’s paintings and prints are showing at the City Hall (222 Lewis St.) Gallery throughout June. His prints are about $60 and his framed original watercolors about $225,

Watercolor classes are available through the Community Arts Base website: riverfallscab.org/classes