Some of Vitus Kaiser’s fondest memories of his father, celebrated Erie landscape artist Vitus “V.J.” Kaiser, occurred around the dinner table.

“He’d go out on a Saturday morning and when he came home for dinner, our family would sit around and critique his painting for that day,” Vitus Kaiser, 57, an Erie resident, remembered. “He could easily crank out one a day. We were harsh critics. He didn’t get a lot of 10s.”

He got plenty of 10s as a person, though.

V.J. Kaiser, a well-known Erie watercolor artist and commercial art teacher, died Wednesday at his west Erie home. He was 91.

“He would ask us to name his paintings,” Vitus Kaiser recalled. “Those are fond and great memories – sitting at the dinner table and looking at his paintings. My dad was a great man and I knew this from an early age because people told me so. My dad was a fantastic man.”

V.J. Kaiser was a prolific artist, producing hundreds of paintings and drawings.

Suffering from red-green colorblindness did not prevent Kaiser from enjoying a lengthy, productive and successful career.

A first-floor room at his home in the 500 block of West 26th Street in Erie features a gallery of his works.

You could often spot the celebrated artist painting in Fairview Township pumpkin patches in the fall, North East Township orchards in the spring, and at various Presque Isle State Park locations year-round.

Erie County was his canvas.

Kaiser, an Erie native, loved to paint iconic rural county landscapes. It was his passion for more than 60 years.

No matter what natural setting piqued his interest, Kaiser would set up shop, armed with his wooden folding chair, easel, brushes, watercolor paper and paints.

You also never saw Kaiser painting without his trademark pipe and hat.

He transformed his vehicles into rolling artist studios. From inside his vehicle, he could mix his paints, and he was equipped with an ample amount of supplies.

Bad weather was never an obstacle. Kaiser could secure watercolor paper to his easel and mount his easel to the dashboard inside his vehicle when the elements turned inhospitable.

Family members said Kaiser stopped painting seriously when he turned 80.

“He stopped painting because of the arthritis in his hands,” Vitus Kaiser said of his father. “He’d try and draw a little bit. He was an extremely hard worker.”

In a 2016 Erie Times-News story, V.J. Kaiser said he turned out 75 paintings a year during his best periods.

Vitus Kaiser said his father suffered a small stroke several years ago.

John Vanco, the former longtime director of the Erie Art Museum, remembered Kaiser as a good-natured person who had a good sense of humor.

“He loved to travel and meet people and talk to people,” Vanco said. “As much as he loved to paint, he also loved when somebody would come over to him and ask him what he was doing or what he was painting.”

V.J. Kaiser graduated from Cathedral Preparatory School. He earned a degree in physical education and played football and wrestled at North Carolina State University.

He served in the U.S. Army following college.

When he returned to Erie, Kaiser studied drawing and painting with Erie art legend Joseph Plavcan.

Kaiser worked at Erie Forge and Steel for more than a decade as director of its printing department. He later began teaching commercial art at Tech Memorial High School in 1970.

Kaiser also gave art lessons and influenced legions of Erie-region students and artists. He was always painting and forged a reputation as being an extremely prolific artist, Vanco said.

“Unlike a lot of artists, he chose to paint things of beauty and that made him well-liked in keeping with his personality,” Vanco said. “That is what people like to think of with art – its beauty. V.J. represented that aspect of it in an exemplary way. His loss will be widely acknowledged.”

Vitus Kaiser said his father loved to teach and mentor budding artists. He believes his father’s legacy also is rooted in the many local artists he positively influenced.

“I received a phone call from one of his students who lives in Florida,” Vitus Kaiser said. “He said if he could attend his funeral, he would. He said, ’You’re dad changed my life.’’’

Contact Ron Leonardi at rleonardi@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNLeonardi.