Watercolor
Explore translucent color and traditional techniques
Watercolor painting has a rich tradition dating back centuries, and is still enjoyed by today's artists for its unique color effects and wide range of techniques.
Throughout this intensive three-lesson course, you'll try out traditional techniques including various washes, glazes, scumbles, resists, and more, and learn how to make the techniques part of your personal painting style. The course begins with a look at the materials and how to make the most of them, and you'll explore watercolor's unique properties by creating a color grid. Your lessons wrap up with a look at prominent watercolor artists, how to shape your style and choose intriguing subjects, and how to articulate your ideas into individual paintings and painting series.
Each lesson introduces theory and techniques hands-on, which you'll further apply in several complete paintings. Accomplished watercolor artist Annika Connor guides you and provides professional critique to help develop your work.
Tuition: $300 US
Course Instructor(s):
Requirements:
- Computer with Internet connection (56 Kbps modem or faster).
- Watercolor paints, paper, brushes, and other art supplies are described in depth and available at a discount at the beginning of the class. Supplies may vary based on student needs and should be purchased after entering the class.
- Basic experience in drawing and painting.
- A digital camera (or ability to digitize film photos) to present your artwork digitally.
Prerequisites:
Course Objectives:
- Select appropriate materials for watercolor painting.
- Create a color grid and demonstrate watercolor's unique color properties.
- Mix colors, create an appropriate water:paint ratio, and load the brush.
- Establish control over the brush and a wide range of brush marks.
- Use drawing, blocking, and underpainting to prepare a watercolor painting.
- Apply paint using washes, glazes, scumbles, textures, resists, and other important techniques.
- Use historical influence and artist studies to shape your personal style.
- Paint representationally and choose engaging subject matter.
- Articulate your painting concepts in individual pieces and series.
Course Outline
LESSON 1 Essential Knowledge for Watercolor
Choosing the right materials is essential to creating watercolor art, and in this lesson you are introduced to the paints, brushes, papers, and other tools necessary. And you'll use them right away as you will also explore color's qualities and basic color mixing, and create a color grid. You'll take an introductory look at water to paint ratio and basic mark-making, then move on to the exercise where you'll practice the fundamentals with two monochromatic pieces.
LESSON 2 Special Techniques for Watercolor
Watercolor's wide range of techniques make this medium so versatile, and you'll explore many of them in this lesson, starting with mastering your brush strokes, correcting mistakes, and tips for underpainting. You'll learn to apply flat and graded washes, create interesting dry brush effects, work with wet-in-wet paintings, and use materials like tissue, plastic, and wax for infinite looks and styles. In the exercise, you'll incorporate many of these techniques in two paintings, and even try to create a technique of your own.
LESSON 3 Creating a Body of Work
The medium of watercolor is centuries old, and there is much to be learned from prominent traditional artists. While exploring many of these important figures, you'll learn to dissect their systems and apply historical influence to your work. Subject matter is explored, including why we learn representational painting and how to engage the audience with your subjects. Development of a series is also covered, and you'll apply what you've learned in the exercise, creating your own series of works.
Bird Water Rock - Annika Connor
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