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Watercolor Workshop for Absolute Beginners, Sat and Sun Oct 28 & 29

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Not sure if watercolor is for you? Tried watercolor but need a little help? Gotten rusty and want to revive some old skills in watercolor? Come on over to Kirkland Arts Center next weekend and have some fun discovering what an expressive medium it is with Michele Cooper, NWWS!

You don't even need to purchase an expensive collection of supplies! Get unlimited use of all supplies from the instructor for $10 per person per day. Take home the art you make.

Take home your own painting of Autumn leaves.

This hands-on workshop presents all the basics for the first-time watercolor painter or a great review of color mixing, brushwork, and painting techniques for the out-of-practice painter. You'll learn how to set up your work area and arrange your palette. We'll discuss different types of paint, brushes, and paper. You'll get to compare student and professional grade paint, cold and hot press paper, and different types of brushes. Learn how to do dry brush, wet in wet, flat washes, and graduated washes.

Discover how to mix and layer colors and how to mix a complete color wheel from just three colors. Continuous hands-on demonstrations will show techniques first hand.

Education Office

(425) 822-7161 x181

 

Sat, October 28, 2017

   10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Sun, October 29, 2017

   10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

 

Yesterday's Drybrush Demo on Periscope

It was fun demonstrating live yesterday afternoon on periscope.tv/michelecoopart 

We had people from Camano Island to Seattle to Virginia to New Zealand watching as I shared some tips on drybrush technique in watercolor. If you missed it, you can still watch the replay.

I enjoyed sharing the process of discovery as I played with a granulating, low chroma palette of Daniel Smith colors. For those who asked, the easel I used can be viewed here.

Thanks again for watching!

"Snowline"--Original Watercolor by Michele Cooper (8x10" on Arches 140lb Rough)

I was inspired by this photo from the North Cascads Institute Instagram. 

Periscope Broadcast Live on Thursday

I got a bunch of orders back from Amazon and can't wait to share them with you. Come on over to my live broadcast Thursday afternoon for some surprises and experiments in watercolor!

Probably will do this around 2:30 or 3:00 unless art interrupts life!
Watch on periscope/michelecoopart 

Preliminary sketches

Books by Philip Jamison listed on Amazon 

In his book, "Capturing Nature in Watercolor", Jamison salutes the artists that influenced him, including Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Odilon Redon, Andrew Wyeth and especially watercolorist W. Emerton Heitland, who was his teacher and mentor in high school. Capturing Nature in Watercolor, generously illustrated with Jamison's paintings, contains information on studio materials and demonstrations of the artist's working methods.

The second book, Making Your Paintings Work (Watson-Guptill, 1987), provides more details on his paintings and pencil drawings. 

Since we are covering composition in my weekly classes, I thought Jamison would be a great example of one who does a considerable amount of preparatory drawing and planning in his watercolor still life's of daisies. 

Classroom set up and demonstrations of 10 to 15 minute loosening up sketches.

Bay View Textures

Looking north at Bay View
Class Demonstration

Using texture "en mass" to create the main areas of a painting: foreground, middle ground, background.

Aerial perspective is achieved by diminishing the appearance  of texture into the distance (size, color, contrast).

Class demo Thursday

Waiting for the "last 5 strokes".

Here is the class demonstration from today's lesson. As I told my students, it's about 98% finished. The first time I confront a new subject I will work out an initial composition, then see where it takes me.  The reference photos are for inspiration but not to copy verbatim.  Usually, I will have made a value plan. Without a value plan, I am leaning on my experience. For a panoramic format like this I will use the steelyard type of composition. 

Balancing the composition: If you imagine visual interest as having weight, the trees have less "weight" than the buildings, so it takes a greater length of them as a counterbalance. I will need a small dark shape somewhere in the lower left quadrant to balance the large collection of buildings on the center/right. Its just like a lighter child who must sit further from the fulcrum of a see-saw to balance a heavier child. The fulcrum is seldom in the middle because most of the time artists are deliberately balancing a heavier mass with a lighter one. That is an artistic balance of unequal parts or asymmetrical balance.

Check back in a day or two for "the last five strokes". Feel free to write and tell me what you would have done.

Trading sunshine for showers

Rain floods the fields and dramatic skies rule the fall landscape

The kids are back to school, Labor Day Sales are over and the predominant weather has shifted from dry and sunny, to moderate temps during the day and much cooler nights, as well as more cloudy days than sunny ones. Summer is my favorite season here in the Pacific NW and I hate to see it end!

Another thing I will miss is the time to go out sketching on my own and with friends and colleagues. My goal for the summer was to fill an entirely new sketchbook. I can say that my new Stillman & Birn Beta has been there the whole time, as well as my handmade, Sketchbook Project, and a new little Pentalic Aqua. So the accumulated collection has filled more than one sketchbook!

Now I look forward to using all that recharged creative energy to teach my watercolor classes.

PS. Never fear, we have some fantastic weather coming up through the end of October.

Sunday Painters. Line Up

Okay, guys. Here's an assignment for you Sunday painters:
Speed sketching with an overhead viewpoint. Compose within a small format. Zoom in or zoom out?

1. Choose a spot outdoors or in the house with lots of natural light.
2. Use the sidewalk, if outdoors, or spread out a white pillowcase or sheet on the ground. If indoors, use the white pillowcase or sheet of watercolor paper on the floor for your background.
3. Lay out a row of similar objects. Uneven numbers are best.
4. Trace the outline of a business card or credit card several times on your sketchbook page or watercolor paper to create frames for your sketches. Orient some of them vertically and some horizontally.
5. Now, with your subject viewed from above, sketch one group at a time within it's own frame using graphite, ink, markers or line and wash.
6. Include the cast shadows and highlights.
7. Give yourself a 5 minute time limit per sketch.
8. See how many you can do in 30 to 45 minutes. Ready, set, go!

Here are a few ideas to get you started, but please try to work from life instead of photos. What do all these objects have in common? Answer: roundness.

 

Tips:

• For the best shadows, make it early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
• If you finish before the timer, reset and start another sketch. Don't fiddle.
• If the timer goes off before you're finished, stop. Go on to the next one.
• Look for variation in your line of objects. Don't assume they are all alike. Embrace the differences!
•  Repetition with variation is the principle to keep in mind

Challenge: Make a composition of even-numbered objects. As Tim Gunn would say, "Make it work!"

Green in the Landscape, with Barns

These are the demos used in our lesson on "green in the landscape, with barns." (click to zoom)
Please refer to Tom Lynch and Tony Couch for more examples of their work.

Weekend painters

I have an idea for a regular or semi regular feature on my blog here. I've been wondering how many weekend painters there are out there who just like to stay at home and have a little fun with watercolor on their own.

I love to paint but I also enjoy teaching almost as much. Part of the enjoyment of teaching is thinking of lessons that would help other painters improve their skills. What would you think if I posted a challenge like the one on a previous Sunday and then just let you have your way with it?

If you're in, then let me know how often you think you'd  like to do this: once a month, every other week, every Sunday?

Since I teach regular classes and workshops, this would have to work with my time available, of course. :)Sund

Plein Air Workshop - Day Two

 "It's all downhill from here"
Original Line and Wash Watercolor
by Michele Cooper

One of the two quick sketch methods covered in our 3 day workshop...Line and Wash. If your time is limited, or you just want a way to quickly get the essential character of your subject, line and wash is one method that works.

These scenes are all over the territory we covered today in our plein air workshop.

In a Private Garden

John's Irish Shed
Line work with Micron Pen
by Michele Cooper


 We were working on thumbnail sketches at a viewpoint over the ocean, when the owners, John and Helen, invited us into their private garden next door. It is a prime example of what skill and loving care can accomplish.
John built the shed. Helen is a notable fine artist in her own right. Visit her website here.

My plein air workshop students and I were captivated and inspired by John and Helen's kind invitation and stunning garden. You could paint for a lifetime here. Thank you, John and Helen.

Private Workshop

 We've been preparing the garden for a private workshop coming up this Sunday. It's one of my "Watercolor with Friends" series.

If the weather forecast is correct, they will walk under the "Welcome" banner and back into the outdoor studio in my blue and white garden. It's going to be a lot of fun!

See what it's all about. Click the link right here.