FORGOTTEN ILLINOIS Exhibition at North Shore Art League, Winnetka Illinois July 18 - August 9, 2019

Illinois Central Mogul Locomotive at the Illinois Railway Museum, 14 x 10 inch watercolor by George C. Clark   AVAILABLE

This watercolor I painted on-site at the Illinois Railway Museum will be in the exhibition FORGOTTEN ILLINOIS in the second floor gallery of the North Shore Art League at 620 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka, Illinois.  Everyone is invited to an opening reception on Thursday, July 18, 2019 from 6:30 to 9:00pm.  The show will run through August 9.

CHICAGO: INsideOUT Exhibition at Bridgeport Art Center Sept. 21-October 19, 2018

Chicago Streetcar Barn at Illinois Railway Museum, 13 x 10 inch watercolor by George C. Clark   AVAILABLE

This little painted on-site watercolor is one of three paintings I have in the CHICAGO: INsideOUT exhibition at the Bridgeport Art Center at 1200 W. 35th Street in Chicago.  There is a large free parking lot on the north side of the building.  Enter the building on the side facing Racine Avenue and take the elevator to the third floor gallery.   The exhibition will be up from September 21 through October 19, 2018.  Work by 75 artists will be shown.

Collectors' Preview:Friday, September 21 from 5:00 to 7:00pm
Opening Reception: Friday, September 21 from 7:00 to 10:00pm
Closing Reception: Friday, October 19 from 7:00 to 10:00pm

Santa Fe No. 543 at the Illinois Railway Museum

Santa Fe No. 543 at IRM, 9 x 10 inch ink and watercolor by George C. Clark   AVAILABLE

I painted this locomotive on static display outdoors at the Illinois Railway Museum.  Some rail fans like to see equipment portrayed all new and shiny-looking like it just rolled out of the factory.  For them I suggest that in an archive someplace there is a photograph of this locomotive taken the day it first rolled out of the factory.  If that's what they want, they should acquire a print of it and hang it on their wall.   As for myself, I'm an artist-- I paint what I see for the most part.  I like to paint old trains.  I find them all interesting: meticulously restored, not so restored, or rusting and abandoned out in the weather.  If I see rust, I paint rust.  If I see broken windows patched with plywood, that's what I paint.

I'll  confess there are a few artistic liberties I might take to improve a painting.   At IRM they use day-glow orange flexible plastic fencing to keep kids from climbing on the trains.  It doesn't bother me that they do that, but I never include that stuff in my art.  Nor do I depict the big white signage that identifies and describes the history of the various locomotives and rolling stock on display.  I usually paint locomotives in the setting where I found them, as is the case with No. 543.   Sometimes, however, if I feel an engine will look better silhouetted against foliage and sky rather than the big dark locomotive that was really behind it, I will make that change.  Trains are movable, after all, and can and do move around the Railway Museum's compound.  And more than once I have painted the old sand tower into a painting to add visual interest although it really wasn't visible from where the rest of the painting was made. 

A Rainy Afternoon at the Railway Museum

Pennsylvania GG1 No. 4927, 7 x 5 inch ink drawing by George C. Clark    AVAILABLE

Bells, Whistles & Lights, 7 x 5 inch ink drawing by George C. Clark    AVAILABLE

One overcast fall afternoon my wife dropped me off at the railroad museum in Union where I was planning to shoot some photographs while she went to shop at a farmstand near a neighboring town.  However, no sooner had she driven away when it started to drizzle, then to rain.  I took shelter in one of the locomotive barns where I found a bench just inside the big open doors.  There were a couple of locomotives parked just a few feet in front of me on parallel tracks that were pretty well illuminated by the light coming in the open doors.  I got out a little sketchbook and made these drawings while I waited for Pat to return.

Scrap Yard at the Illinois Railway Museum

Railroad Scrap Yard, 10 x 6.5 inch ink and watercolor by George C. Clark   AVAILABLE

I found this old cut-off locomotive cab rusting in a scrapyard behind a maintenance building at the Illinois Railway Museum.  I drew this view of it silhouetted against a white parked truck trailer.

My Painting in the American Society of Railway Artists Exhibition at the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas Nevada September 30, 2016 through January 8, 2017

Santa Fe No. 92, 15 x 11 inch ink and watercolor painting by George C. Clark   AVAILABLE

My painting of Santa Fe No. 92 in "warbonnet" paint on display at the Illinois Railway museum  is included in the newest annual exhibition of the American Society of Railway Artists held this year at the Big Springs Gallery at the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas, Nevada.  The exhibition will be open every day September 30 to January 8, 2017 from 10:00am to 6:00pm.  There is an admission fee for the Springs Preserve, a 180 acre site which contains the Nevada State Museum, the Origen Museum (of Natural History), a Botanical Garden, hiking trails and other attractions.

Penn Central No. 4715 at the Illinois Railway Museum

Penn Central No. 4715, 10 x 14 inch watercolor by George C. Clark   PRINT AVAILABLE

When I started going out to the Illinois Railway Museum with my watercolors and sketchbook on a pretty regular basis back about 15 years ago, this was one of the earliest paintings I did in what has turned out to be my Age of Iron series.  I was especially attracted to this big green cab-centered electric locomotive because its shape reminded me of the big old black Lionel electric locomotive that originally belonged to my father that he let me play with when I was a kid.  Somewhere there is a photo of the train set up under a Christmas tree dated 1921 on the back.  My father would have been 11 that year.  That Lionel got pretty banged up in my care-- my father scored much higher as a loving parent than he did as a conservator of collectables.

In those days No. 4715 was kept outdoors, and I painted it on a sunny summer day.  I had to squeeze back in-between two locomotives parked on a parallel track to get this view.  Even so, I got a little more fish-eye lens type distortion on No. 4715's cab than I was happy with.  I corrected that with Photoshop to produce the image above.  This corrected version is only available as a print.

Since I painted this more train sheds have been built at IRM and this locomotive is displayed indoors now, where visitors can see it from walkways between the rails.  Although as a rail fan I am happy it is now being protected from the weather, as an artist I find the new display a little too dark and claustrophobic to paint, even with its illumination from skylights and electric lights.

Field Trip to the Illinois Railway Museum

George C. Clark sketching with high school art students and their teacher  at the Illinois Railway Museum yesterday morning.  (photos by Pat Clark)

My friend Ray at the Illinois Railway Museum said he had two busloads of high school art and photography students from Crystal Lake coming to the museum on a field trip and asked if I would be interested in coming out to do a little demonstration and talk to them.  I said I'd be glad to do it and Pat and I drove out yesterday on a cool and rainy morning.  Their teachers introduced the handful of students who were into "traditional art" as opposed to photography and I gave them a little talk about the art I do and sent them off to explore and sketch or photograph while I set to work.  They came back after an hour and a half, and in the photos above I'm showing them my drawing and talking about materials and techniques and working methods.  Some of them were too shy to say much, but I could tell from the interest and questions of others that some at least have the potential to become artists.  It made me feel good about an education system that in too many places seems plagued with problems and inadequacies. 

Rust Gicleé Print Available at Longbranch Gallery in Mineral Point, Wisconsin

My archival limited edition print Rust described in the previous post can now be purchased at the Longbranch Gallery, 203 Commerce Street in historic Mineral Point, Wisconsin.   The 12 x 16 inch print is priced at $120 framed or $75 unframed.  The original oil painting on which the print was based was painted on-site at the Illinois Railway Museum and is now in the permanent collection of the Illinois State Museums.

Rust Gicleé Shown at Palette & Chisel Art Sale Saturday April 26

Rust, signed and numbered giclee print by George C. Clark from an original painting that is now in the permanent collection of the Illinois State Museums.    AVAILABLE

This new archival print will be shown at a one-day sale at the  PALETTE AND CHISEL ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS at 1012 N. Dearborn Street in Chicago on Saturday, April 26, from 11am to 4pm.  

The image is centered on a 12 x 16 inch sheet of 100% rag Hahnemühle paper with about an inch of white margin all around.  Each print from this edition of 30 is signed and numbered by the artist in pencil on the light green area at the bottom of the image so it can be displayed as is in a 12 x 16 inch frame or matted for display in a larger frame without covering the signature and edition number.  This 12 x 16 inch framed print is priced at $120.  Rust was painted on-site at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois. 

Other works by Clark in this sale include a small Key West landscape and four paintings of female nudes.

Santa Fe Sign atop the Railway Exchange Building, Chicago

Santa Fe Sign atop the Railway Exchange Building, Chicago,  7 x 9 inch ink, watercolor and colored pencil
by George C. Clark   AVAILABLE

For many years this electric Santa Fe Railroad logo sign appeared atop the historic Railway Exchange Building on Chicago's Michigan Avenue overlooking Grant Park.  It has been replaced now by another corporate logo sign, but the Santa Fe sign has been acquired by the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois, where it is being restored for display there.  This is how it used to look against the night sky.

The Old Sand Tower at the Illinois Railway Museum

Old Sand Tower at the Illinois Railway Museum, 8 x 18 inch ink and watercolor painting by George C. Clark   AVAILABLE

I went out to the Illinois Railway Museum in Union the last day of the season it was open this year and inked this painting on site.  I added the color later at home referring to my on-site photos.  I had brought a skinny piece of watercolor board thinking it would be perfect for a long horizontal subject like a train, but when I saw the old rusting sand tower silhouetted against the bright fall sky I decided to go vertical instead.  

A Productive Day at the Illinois Railway Museum

Chicago Streetcar Barn, Illinois Railway Museum, 14 x 10 inch watercolor by George C. Clark  AVAILABLE

In 2010, after I had been invited to create a poster and railroad prints for the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois, I was also invited to come out on a busy weekend in September to paint on site and be an event for museum visitors.  Because the trains are moved around from time to time, I went out there on a sunny day a week ahead with my camera to pick some good painting locations, both indoors and out, September weather being what it is.  The day I came to paint turned out to be really overcast and threatening to rain, so I set up in the corner of the car barn where old Chicago street cars are displayed.  That's a "Green Hornet" streamlined car from the 1940s in the foreground, a 1970s "Skokie Swift" train behind it, and an old car from the 1920s or earlier in the distance.  The overcast light was actually better for painting than it been the week before, when bright sunlight had been coming in the open doors to the left.  I finished the painting on site, then took a break for a late lunch.

Burlington Northern No. 3007, 14 x 12 inch ink and watercolor by George C. Clark  AVAILABLE

After lunch, although it was still overcast it hadn't actually rained, so I decided to work outdoors.  I liked the front of this locomotive, but it had looked better as a painting subject in sunlight.  I set up in front of it with a folding card table and a stool and spent about an hour and a half doing a fairly tight ink drawing on watercolor board.  The rain held off until the drawing was almost finished and I had to pack up and leave.  At home I used the photographs I had taken in sunlight as a guide when I added my watercolors.

New Limited Edition Giclee Print Available

Rust, signed and numbered giclee print by George C. Clark from an original painting that is now in the permanent collection of the Illinois State Museums.    AVAILABLE

This new archival print will be on view this weekend at a 2-day exhibition and sale at ARTS ON ELSTON Gallery, 3446 N. Albany (at the intersection of Elston Avenue) in Chicago.  Gallery hours are Friday, Dec. 6 from 6 to 10pm and Saturday, Dec. 7 from 2 to 6pm.

The image is centered on a 12 x 16 inch sheet of 100% rag Hahnemühle paper with about an inch of white margin all around.  Each print from this edition of 30 is signed and numbered by the artist in pencil on the light green area at the bottom of the image so it can be displayed as is in a 12 x 16 inch frame or matted for display in a larger frame without covering the signature and edition number.  Unframed prints are $75 and prints framed 12 x 16 are $120.  Rust was painted on-site at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois. 

A New Arrival at the Illinois Railway Museum

A New Arrival at the Railway Museum, 14 x 10 inch watercolor by George C. Clark   AVAILABLE

One day a few years ago I went out to the Illinois Railway Museum with my watercolors and found this old interurban car on two bright yellow flatcars parked in front of the East Union Station.  The body of the car was mounted on one flatcar and its heavy wheel trucks on another.  I sat down on one of the benches outside the station and made this painting.

My Illinois Railway Museum Poster

16 x 12 inch poster illustrated with the watercolor painting Saddle-tank Switch Engine by George C. Clark

In 2010 I had an exhibition of my landscape, figure and railroad paintings at the John H. Vanderpoel Art Museum.  I made hundreds of 5 x 7 inch announcement cards and 20 16 x 12 inch posters to publicize that exhibition, all featuring my watercolor Saddle-tank Switch Engine, which I had painted on-site at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.  I sent a poster to the Railway Museum and asked them to post it where the museum's volunteer workers could see it.  A week later I got a phone call from the manager of the IRM museum store asking me to make a poster for them to sell with the same image on it.  I self-published the poster above and it is available for $10 at the museum store when it is open daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day plus weekends in May and September.    

Santa Fe No. 92 at the Illinois Railway Museum

Santa Fe No. 92, ink and watercolor by George C. Clark    AVAILABLE

A Santa Fe diesel locomotive in "warbonnet" paint on outdoor display at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.