Watercolor Sketchbooking — High Low Art Space

Watercolor Sketchbook

Thursdays 6:00-8:30 pm

March 13 - April 24 2025

ALL LEVELS WELCOME

price: $265

class summary

Come along on a journey of discovery through the medium of watercolor. Paint everything from the magical to the mundane while playing with water and color. If you are mesmerized by the jewel-like colors of the watercolor medium but perhaps a little scared of the idea of water - unlike oil paint or acrylic - being literally able to run away from you, this would be a great class to explore some of the possibilities that aquarelle journaling has to offer. Classes will focus on technique but also on ideas of how we can make watercolor journaling a rewarding part of our every day lives. Students will be painting from objects in the class room as well as from reference photos.

MATERIALS

Watercolor brushes
- A range of sizes and types. I have included a photo of the brushes that I travel with. The smallest is a pointed round size 3 and the largest is a 3/4”. The super cheap brushes you can get at JoAnns or other craft stores are not ideal as they shed and they also can’t keep a point. But the super expensive ones are not necessary either. Middle of the road quality works just fine.
Watercolor paints
- I buy tube paint and squeeze it out into those little 1/2 pans you can buy for a watercolor tin - photo below. While you see 15 colors in the tin, in fact I really only use 7 on a regular basis. These are:
  - ultramarine blue
  - cobalt blue
  - alizarin
  - burnt sienna
  - sap green
  - lemon yellow
  - quinacridone gold
- These are the colors I occasionally use:
  - cadmium red
  - cerulean blue
  - cadmium orange
  Typically my watercolor paints are from Windsor & Newton and from M. Graham. I interchange brands all the time with the exception of burnt sienna. In my experience W&N has the best transparent burnt sienna.
Journal for our classes and projects: If you have a watercolor paper/journal you already like, please bring it with you. Important is that the paper can take some amount of water. Brands I use:
- Canson XL Watercolor (140 lb)
- Stillman & Byrn Beta series
I would not recommend hot press (very smooth) for journaling - we are going to use those bumps of the cold press for variety. Also - spiral books can open up more easily
Please note: 90 lb. watercolor paper is useless in my opinion. So do not spend money on it because it will not be able to take more than one very thin layer of water. There is a small materials fee of $5 for the class because I will bring in a range of papers (Arches, Hahnemühle etc.) and we will do some experimenting so you can find out what kinds of paper you like.
Sketching materials: a couple of HB pencils and an eraser. Also a waterproof black ink pen - I use the uni-ball vision fine
For the first class I also ask that you bring me images of watercolor paintings you like - can be historical or contemporary. It can be on your phone - just so I get an idea of what direction you would like to go in. There are many wonderful images on Pinterest

SYLLABUS

week 1 Introduction to materials and concepts

week 2 Working with water

week 3 Value and color

week 4 Working with a variety of grays

week 5 Simplifying shapes

week 6 Still Life

week 7 Landscape

REFUNDS

Please contact us at least 1 week before class for a full refund. Unfortunately due to our limited class sizes we cannot process refunds after this time. Transfers to other classes are usually possible

It is possible that a class is cancelled if an inadequate number of students register. In this case, tuition will be promptly refunded

absences

Anyone who must miss classes may attend up to two make-up sessions in other classes as long as space permits