Betsey MacDonald: See The Light - 4 Week Watercolor class (Intermediate/Advanced)

Description:

In January, just when we’re ready to see more light, we’ll use watercolor as our medium, to study light and how it hits our subjects to create a sense of luminous form. Watercolor is transparent, fluid and luminous. It glows because light moves through it and reflects off the white paper, unlike an opaque medium. In this class, we’ll work with a single light source, using our own objects and then our own photos to create the illusion of luminous dramatic light and paintings that glow.

Objectives:

• Acquire skills with a variety of watercolor painting techniques
• Learn about clean color mixing and layering
• Learn to better see the light as it creates highlights and shadows
• Create a variety of values using simply the addition of water to watercolor
• Create a variety of values through the use of colors
• Improve observational skills through painting from life
• Use value/color to render objects in light and shadow
• Understand how values can be used to create form
• Render objects by selectively and knowledgably using color
• Observe, critique and discuss student work and master paintings
• Gain a greater appreciation of how light and painting are connected

Materials student will need to provide:  Watercolor set(an inexpensive tray is fine but a set of tubes with palette is great, too), variety of brushes, masking fluid, watercolor block or pad(at least 140 lb, 8x 10, 12 x 16, 16 x 20 or a few sheets with a gator foam board for stapling or some other support or 300 lb paper which doesn’t need mounting , hot or cold press or even rough can work, jar or two for water, spray bottle, sponge or two, #2 pencil or mechanical pencil, paper towel. Several printed 8 x 10 photos taken by the student of light on the subject of choice. Also bring in several objects, such as fruits, toys, glass or metal, reflective objects