World of Watercolor

WHAT IS STUDIOWORKS CREATIVE ACADEMY?

Warmup Lesson : NEURO-ART & LAYERING

In this section of the class, we'll lay the foundation for your watercolor journey through a series of engaging warm-up exercises and neuro-art techniques.

I believe that mastering watercolor begins with understanding the essence of water itself. That's why we'll start by honing your water control skills. Through a series of neuro-art exercises, you'll learn how to guide and manipulate water on your paper. We'll delve into washes and gradients and explore the spectrum of colors and values that can be achieved with watercolors. You’ll practice creating smooth transitions from light to dark and embellishing your work at the end with some details. Get creative with your own line work, types of pens used and your color palette! These exercises are extremely meditative and can be done over and over. It’s one of my favorite ways to relax!

In the final section of warm-ups we’ll explore some layering techniques, the colors achieved through transparencies and how you can apply layering to your own work in a practical way.

Lesson 2 : Watercolor Techniques - BRUSH PLAY

This next section is all about brushes and how we can use them to our advantage to create beautiful shapes and textures. We’ll begin this lesson with the most important aspect of brushes, which in my book, is brush control! We’ll work on controlling our brush and paint flow with the first exercise, negative painting.

This is one of the most fundamental skills in watercolor - how to effectively paint around objects, which is extremely useful when you’re saving the white of your paper for highlights. You don’t have to rely on messy masking fluid once you perfect this skill. In the next section I’ll show you how to use your brushes to your advantage to save you time and to create beautiful florals in a few strokes. We’ll put it all together in the final video by creating our very own watercolor bouquet.

Lesson 3 : PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

In the final section of this class, we’ll focus on the skills we’ve learned this far to create some beautiful landscapes. I’ll show you how to paint in a loose, illustrative style perfect for creating greeting cards and gifts and then we’ll move on to using a reference photo and how to effectively approach a painting that’s a little more involved.

Bonus lesson : SUNSET FIELD

In this bonus lesson we’ll be using our masking fluid to create a beautiful, backlit meadow during a sunset. I think you’re really going to love this one and the results are super easy to achieve!

Who is this class for?

This watercolor class is perfect for artists of all levels, from beginners eager to dip their brushes into the colorful world of watercolors to experienced artists looking to hone their skills. If you're someone with a busy schedule, seeking to learn and create in short, engaging sessions, this class is tailored to fit seamlessly into your life. The approach to quick lessons, complete projects, and a focus on building confidence while having fun ensures that everyone, regardless of their prior experience, can explore the magic of watercolors and become a more confident and capable artist.

Here is a list of supplies I’ve used for this class, please use the watercolors you have, no need to buy anything expensive. However, please use the best paper you can, I suggest multiple times throughout the class to purchase 140lb.,100% cotton paper, you will love the results you get! There are many different brands and price points so I encourage you to shop around.

Included is an art supply video where I discuss all the supplies I will be using throughout the course

Watercolors - Colors & Brands I use are listed

• Indigo - Windsor & Newton

• Kremer Watercolor - IRIODIN®320 BRIGHT GOLD PEARL, Pale Gold (metallic pan) - The palettes I use in this class are listed below, you do not need several palettes! Just a palette with a variety of colors or a set of primaries that you can mix with. There are many cost-effective palettes and sets available such as Jane Davenport or Prima.

• Daniel Smith Watercolors - my go to paints are Indanthrone Blue, Opera Pink, Moonglow, Payne’s Blue Gray, Deep Sap Green, Undersea Green, Lemon Yellow, New Gamboge

• Schminke 36 Half Pan Set

• Jane Davenport Bright Palette

Brushes

For this class you’ll need a large (size 8) and small (size 4) round brush, a ½” flat brush to paint most of the lessons. The floral lessons can be completed with only round brushes, but if you have others on hand please experiment with them. Listed below are the brushes I used during this class.

• My go-to brushes - Silver Black Velvet Round brushes - size 2,4, 6, 8, 10 Artist Loft brushes -filbert brush, pointed filbert, dagger brush

• Fan brush

• Scrubby, bristle brush for spattering script liner/rigger brush

Watercolor paper - 100% cotton, 140lb cold press - listed below are the papers I used

• Arches Cold Press 9 x 12” pad and 6 x 10” travel journal Strathmore Travel Journal 5 x 8”, cold press

• Fluid100 6 x 6” block, cold press

• White Ink or Gouache - In this class, I used PH Martin’s Bleed Proof White Ink, feel free to use white gouache, acrylic gouache, paint pens or white gel pens

• Pens - I used Gelly Roll pens in pink and also a fine-tipped ballpoint pen. The pens are used for detailing our warmup paintings and anything you have will work.

• Masking Fluid - I used Pebeo masking gum

• Eraser Water

• Paper Towels

• Pencil

• Palette Knife

• Sharpie marker (or any waterproof marker