Workshops

"Watercolor Breakthroughs!"

Watercolor workshop with Stephen Blackburn (see my 2008-2009 schedule at the bottom of this page).

What would it take for you to break through to a new level of watercolor painting?
That's what this workshop is all about.
 

Click here to read what others have said about my workshops.

No matter what level you are at in your painting journey, this workshop is for you. Working with the instructor's exciting pouring technique, we will also concentrate on what you need to learn to advance your painting skills. The instructor will work with you personally to evaluate where you are and where you want to go with your painting. Then everyone will work through the painting process to:

Develop a new, personal painting style
Fix problem areas in your paintings
Learn how to use color logically
Open up new ways of seeing values and shapes
Discover what works for you in a painting

Description of my technique:
This workshop will focus on experimental pouring techniques, using poured frisket, poured paint and traditional brushwork. Students will paint from their own resource materials at whatever size they want. DO NOT draw the piece beforehand - the drawing is done in two steps, both before and during the pouring process. The key to the poured paintings is having the right subject matter. It will work best when done from photos or other pictures of close-up subjects, such as florals or leaves, in analogous colors. That's why sunflowers work great (analogous yellows and greens), but red water lilies do not (red and green don't mix in this class). See my notes on materials for more subject ideas.

The pouring process of the painting takes several steps. After sketching the basic shapes, frisket is poured to create movement in the piece. Then anywhere from 5-10 steps of mostly analogous colors are poured on before the frisket is removed. The drawing is then redone in a tighter manner, sometimes changing the composition to fit what has happened with the pouring. Then, if needed, more colors are poured to remove some of the whites that the frisket left, and to add more interest in areas. Every painting is different, and part of the fun (and challenge) in the process is figuring out when to stop the pouring and proceed to brushwork.

After all the pours are completed, the painting is finished with traditional brushwork. In my case this usually means negative painting and working with a dramatic value scale. I decide where to keep white or lighter areas and begin to work from light to dark with the brush. Then after zapping in the darkest spaces, I work backwards to the lighter areas to finish the painting.

There may be a critique session later in the workshop, after the students have done their own poured painting.

2008 Schedule