A native Clevelander, Wilcox loved the Ohio outdoors and its history. As part of the Cleveland School of artists, Wilcox was one of its central figures of excellence in watercolor. Inspired by Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Wilcox developed his own signature style. Watercolor is a difficult medium to control, and Wilcox was particular with his approach to it. Though he only used three brushes, their different tips gave him a great variety of mark making. He used wet, dry, and damp techniques to capture the different effects of a landscape - the dry brush to create texture; a wash on damp paper to get an incredible bleed that would work for the sky. These techniques gave him the effects he wanted, interpreting a scene in nature as an emotional experience rather than an exact copy. He once described how he was painting “light, weather, and the sense of space seen through the lightness and airiness of the watercolor technique.” Wilcox used indigo, deep cobalt, and shimmering emeralds in his waterscapes, successfully rendering a scene brimming with emotion. Wilcox was known for his speed and confidence in painting watercolors on the spot outdoors. His approach was not to fuss lengthily over his work, but to work relatively quick and directly. Painting a scene quickly allowed Wilcox to capture its emotional essence without getting bogged down in meticulous details. It also allowed him to capture a scene in its current state before the weather conditions changed. What's most remarkable about Wilcox's work is his grasp of weather and atmosphere in the composition and how he translated that into mood.