Beginner 101
Beginner 101
Embedded Files
Week 1: Introduction to Watercolor
Week 1: Introduction to Watercolor
Focus is on exercises that teach us how to "collaborate" with the water rather than fighting it. These exercises are designed to help us observe the physical behavior of the medium in a low-pressure way.
Week 2: Introduction to Watercolor
Week 2: Introduction to Watercolor
Focus is on creating several paintings using what we learned in the classic wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry techniques.
Surrender to watercolor’s unique physical nature. Fluid and alive, it moves freely across the paper, often creating unexpected colors and beautiful blooms. Like life itself, watercolor is ever-changing, inviting us to embrace water and earth-born pigments as they interact and transform. Gentle, atmospheric music sets a calming tone as we welcome the beauty of the unexpected.
Acceptance begins with slowing down. We practice patience and timing, allowing each layer to fully dry before continuing. As watercolor dries, colors naturally shift and soften. Rather than resisting these changes, we observe them with curiosity and ease, trusting the process without judgment.
Week 1:
Week 1:
Overview of materials and setup
We will explore variations by adjusting drying time, brushstrokes, and pigment saturation.
Charging water one color and different colors. Applying saturations of colors, flat wash, gravity tilt wash, wet-on-damp color washes - wait 45 seconds then add brush strokes, spraying blooms, lifting, soft edges, dry brushing
Hands On: By dividing paper with masking tape we will create technique studies. These techniques will be applied to student's in-class landscape the second hour.
Goal: Understanding timing and drying stages. Understanding terminology used in watercolor painting.
Week 2:
Week 2:
Demo + review and show real life example.
Goal: Understanding timing and drying stages.
Photograph will be provided.
Downloads:
Downloads:
Glossary
Glossary
Blooming involves dropping clean water or a lighter paint mixture into a drying, darker, and more concentrated wash, causing the pigment to be pushed away and creating feather-edged, blossom-like patterns. It is a "happy accident" commonly used to create texture in landscapes, flowers, or snow.
Charging is a wet-on-wet watercolor technique where fresh, concentrated paint is dropped into a previously applied, still-wet wash, allowing the colors to mingle and blend on the paper rather than the palette. It is used to create soft edges, vibrant gradients, and spontaneous, textured effects while maintaining luminous, non-muddy colors.
Dry Brush is using a brush with very little water and high pigment concentration on dry paper to create rough, scratchy textures.
Glazing is laying transparent, thin, dry layers of paint over dried previous layers to deepen color or change hue.
Gradient A wash creates a smooth transition from dark to light (or between colors) by gradually adding more water and less pigment with each descending, horizontal stroke. Key techniques include tilting the paper, keeping a consistent wet "bead" of paint, and using a large, loaded brush to prevent streaky lines.
Granulating paints that contain large or heavy pigment particles that fail to blend smoothly, instead settling into the crevices of paper to create a textured, mottled, or speckled effect.
Lifting is the technique of removing wet or dry paint from paper to lighten a value, soften edges, correct mistakes, or create highlights. It is achieved by absorbing wet paint with a tissue/brush or re-wetting dried paint to gently scrub it away, often creating softer, more organic shapes than masking fluid.
Sgraffito/Scratch-ing is scratching into wet or dry paint with a palette knife or fingernail creates sharp, fine lines.
An Exacto blade or tooth picks are commonly used.
Wet on Dry is applying wet, paint-loaded brushes onto completely dried layer of paint. Producing crisp, hard-edged, and detailed shapes with intense color saturation. Ideal for adding final details, defined shadows, and foreground elements, usually applied after initial wet-on-wet washes have dried.
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