New Spring Watercolor classes start April 3

 Please contact me via email, DM on Instagram or Facebook message below for more information. 

 A. Michele’s NW Studio Mini Series Live and Interactive on Zoom Starts APRIL 3, 2024

See my teaching style—Free tutorial on my YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/d0ZqKv3UbeY

2024: 2 Sessions for April/May Watercolor Mini Series - 4 watercolor classes live and interactive  online - Replays Available 

Session 1

Wednesdays 6-9pm PDT

4/3, 4/10, 4/17, 4/24-2024

Tuition: $165 for 4 classes on Zoom

Payable by Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, check **

Session 2

Wednesdays 6-9pm PDT

5/8, 5/15, 5/22, 5/29-2024

Tuition: $165 for 4 classes on Zoom

Payable by Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, check **

Format and details:

• This is a live online group watercolor class.
• All levels are welcome.
• Live lessons will be recorded and available for replay.
• Among other skills we will be focusing on flowers, spring landscape, barns, tulip fields & more
• Each lesson will be approximately 3 hours including a 1 hour offline assignment.
• You will be able to see a close view of the instructor's workspace.
• You will be able to share your work in a private online notice board with other students.
• You will receive a supplemental email each week with a homework assignment.
• All handouts, links and recordings are found in the course portal.

**Enroll now:

Please send $165 for April/May 2024 watercolor mini series on Zoom (4 weekly classes)

1. Zelle to michelec12@gmail.com
2. Venmo (@Michele-Cooper-49)
3. Paypal (https://www.paypal.me/michelec12)
4. Cash
5. Check to Michele Cooper

Please email me for further assistance michelec12@gmail.com

My Instagram 

https://www.instagram.com/michelecooperart

My Facebook page 

https://www.facebook.com/ArtMicheleCooper

B. Intermediate Watercolor-In person 

Intermediate Watercolor

A19.24.SP

Michele Cooper

Fridays, April 12 - May 31, 2024 (8 sessions)

10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Skylight Studio

Intermediate, Ages 14 year through adult

$375.00

$337.50 (members)

This class is full. 

 

Sketch & Paint Watercolor One Day Workshop-December 13

  This event has finished

Snowy Winter Watercolor Greeting Cards

Join us Dec. 13, 2023 at 6:30pm PST

Ready to have a fun hour or two with other creatives painting watercolor? We had a great time last year so let’s do it again! Live online and interactive.

Join me from the comfort of your own home on Wednesday, Dec 13 at 6:30pm PST

Paint along, ask questions about watercolor materials, methods, etc. Get some unique tips and hacks from experienced artists.

Wednesday, December 13

6:30 PM – 8:30 PM PST

Live from Michele’s NW Studio via Zoom

All levels,  Ages 14 through adult

Tuition: $45 for a 2hr. class on Zoom, replays available 

Payable by Zelle, check 

Message me on my Instagram/Facebook or email me (michelec12@gmail.com) with YOUR NAME AND EMAIL to get access to our live interactive watercolor workshop on Zoom.

Sketching
What’s your favorite water soluble ink?

What’s next?

After I receive your tuition, name and email address, I will send you preliminary instructions and handouts.

I will send you the Zoom link a few days before each Wednesday, 6:30pm PST, (December 13 and/or January 3)

You will need:

A stable Wi-Fi connection 

A laptop with webcam, tablet or smart phone

Optional: AirPods, headset

About 5 minutes early each Wednesday, you may join the Zoom meeting. I will let you in from the waiting room. Make sure your video is on and your audio is off until you want to speak. Smile and wave to greet your art friends. Text where you’re from in the Chat.

For approximately the next two hours:

1. Enjoy the demonstrations by Michele
2. Paint along (have paper, paint, brushes and water ready)
3. Ask questions about watercolor
4. Try using a water brush. Pentel Japan Aquash Water-Brush set of 3 types   https://a.co/d/5NhBF0d

If you want to paint along you will need:

Two pieces of paper, one mixed media and one 140# CP watercolor 

Water soluble  Ink—either a fountain pen, dip pen, or office type pen

Watercolor paints and brushes (see #4 above)

Just use what you already have. Here are some options. 

My Instagram 

https://www.instagram.com/michelecooperart

My Facebook page 

https://www.facebook.com/ArtMicheleCooper

Can’t wait to see you soon !

USk Seattle at Pike and Melrose

What a group USk Seattle had yesterday at the new Starbucks Roastery on Pike and Melrose! At the end of the session, we filled the sidewalk along the south side of the building with sketchers and their sketches. The number of unique viewpoints, individual style, as well as the obvious high level of accomplishment was astounding. I wish I could have looked over every sketchbook at least one more time.

I arrived about 25 minutes early and couldn't find street parking no matter how many times I circled the block. No wonder! We had approximately 40 people there in our group, not to mention the "regulars" and other Seattle denizens out for a nice Sunday morning cup of coffee and/or breakfast.

Sketches by Michele Cooper-Feb 22, 2015

As I sketched the classic-looking pale green Vespa parked outside the Melrose Apartments, a woman leaned out of her top story window and called out to me: "Are you sketching the Vespa?" "Yes," I answered, "Is it yours?" "No", she replied, "but I was just on the phone with my mother, who's an artist, and I told her-Guess what? Somebody's out on the street sketching the Vespa!" For a time there, I experienced a "New York" kind of moment.

Sunday Painters, Loosen Up!

This could keep you busy for a month of Sundays! I grabbed some random supplies from the studio to play around with today. I have some ideas to give you a bit of practice with color mixing, water ratio, pencils vs paints and more!

Watercolor Techniques in a Nutshell!

1. If you're a bit worried about color, start with working out value, the relative light and dark pattern you need for any sketch or painting. Choose three graphite pencils of varying value. Harder ones are lighter and softer ones are darker. Now one at a time, see if you can make the same light, medium and dark values with each one. Practice crosshatching small 1" square sections on a piece of sketch paper. (Copy paper works, too) You'll have to control the pressure, depending on which pencil you use.

2. Now make similar little squares with your watercolor, mixing Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue to get neutral midtones. You'll have to control the amount of water as well as the balance of warm/cool color to get the results you want.

3. Choose three tubes of watercolor, each color intrinsically light, medium or dark. Practice using the paint almost full strength, choosing a subject suited to these three colors and values. Check your results in black and white or grey scale. The above examples are referenced from a previous challenge and show how loose you can really get!

Tip: Have you been drawing lines around things to make them look more realistic? Unless you want "tighter" paintings that look like coloring book pictures, keep it loose. Squint! Draw general shapes lightly with pencil, then paint with a good pointed brush, using value and color to get the definition you desire. Keep detail to a minimum.

About Sunday Painters posts: Especially during this summer, I have been posting weekly inspirations for those of you who like to play around with art at home. These are not meant to be lesson plans or complete exercises, but just a jump start to get you going. Please let me know if these ideas are giving you a little boost to practice on your own. :)

Painting Animals in Watercolor

Although this book is now out of print, I just had to share the cover with you. Lian Quan Zhen has such a loose, yet authoritative way of capturing the life and movement of animals and anything else he wants to paint. Fortunately for us, he is willing to generously share his approach and special watercolor techniques. Search the rest of his books on painting with watercolor.

Watercolor Florals in a Glass Container

"Garden Flowers in Glass Jar"
Original Watercolor by Michele Cooper
Size 15"x11"      Price: $200

Sometimes you just have to put down the gardening tools and pick up your brushes!
And eat the last of the pickles so you'll have a jar to hold the flowers.