Sue Levy, 5/7 Watercolor Landscapes

To the artist, Spring is a palette of color explosion to paint and we immediately think of what paint colors to mix and the techniques to capture these vibrant colors. 

Drawing is important to plan the design and composition using a sketch book, then the real fun begins when we put the drawing on paper and begin to paint.

Come join me on this art adventure of learning to paint spring by learning the following:

• Watercolor Design and Composition Techniques
• Keeping the main subject the focus
• Telling the story
• Getting the right perspective
• Creating depth and atmosphere
• Mixing paint to create the colors of spring, not mud
• Painting water
• Consistency of the paint mixture, how much water to add to pigment
• Shapes , both positive and negative , keeping these shapes interesting
• Values , the value scale from the lightest to darkest values

Materials List

• Watercolor paint I use (warm (W), cool (C)):

W - cadmium yellow, C - lemon yellow, W - cadmium red,  C - alizarin crimson, W - cerulean blue, C - ultramarine blue or cobalt blue.

These are primary split palette colors using two yellows, two reds and two blues in a warm and cool of each color.

Additional colors I use :

W - yellow ochre or raw sienna, W - burnt sienna,  sap green, hookers green,  violet but I like mixing my own.

• Good watercolor paper such as Arches, 140 lb. cold press
• A board or something to tape your paper to or use a watercolor block (Arches or Canson Aquarelle) 
• Brushes: round brush #4, 6; flat chisel edge brushes 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch
• Old jar or Cool Whip container to hold water
• Paper towels 
• Photo references for you to choose the subject material you will be painting. We will be doing subjects of Spring in Bloom. Suggested subjects: trees in a landscape with a stream, a barn, house with garden of flowers, spring flowers, etc.

This Watercolor Workshop is a casual class, all questions are welcome. Learn techniques in Watercolor; getting the maximum use of your brushes 

This class is geared toward students interested in learning the wonderful world of watercolor. Some drawing ability is preferred. For beginners to intermediate painters.

Maximum class size: 16
Minimum class size: 4

(Register here for the series or register for Apr. 23 and 30, and May 7 and 14 sessions separately from the Calendar.)