Dillsburg Arts Council
Painting portraits in watercolor can seem like a daunting task, but many of us can’t resist the urge to try it. We may have a loved one who we’d like to paint or we may simply be drawn to the challenge of capturing an interesting character on paper. It’s so easy to “tighten up” our portrait paintings because of our focus on “getting it right”.
In this two day online workshop (April 6,7 -10:00AM -3:30PM Eastern Daylight Time both days)we will focus on loosening up the portrait painting process and working to achieve a more relaxed look that highlights the beauty and freshness of the watercolor medium.
I’ll be mailing out a packet to workshop registrants that will include:
- Partially pre-drawn portraits, printed on watercolor paper, for you to work on as part of our exercises – You will finish the drawings, but the basics will be there so we can spend the majority of our time painting. (Of course, if you prefer to work completely freehand, that is fine. )
- Small samples of the paints I use regularly (and that I usually end up sharing at workshops)
- Printed photo references of the models we will be painting
- Reference sheet with my painting/drawing tips and technology tips
The 2 day format of the workshop will give us time to practice the techniques we are exploring. The references we’ll be working with will cover a range of ages and skin tones.
This workshop will be a combination of demo and hands-on portrait work. I’ll be keeping the class small so it can be a truly interactive experience.
Tech Tips: I’ll introduce several technology tools to use to help you with your portrait drawings and paintings and give you resources so you can follow up after the workshop.
Students should be comfortable with painting in watercolor, but do not need to have experience with portrait painting.
We will be using the Zoom platform, so you will need a computer or tablet (larger than a cell phone) and some comfort level with using Zoom. I will send out a link to the class via email. I will also be sending out information about a “test session” a week before the workshop where you can try out the tech pieces needed for the class before the actual session. (Don’t worry – it’s easy!)
Materials list: I’ll be providing the drawings and watercolor paper as well as some samples of the colors I use. You’ll need your usual watercolor painting supplies including:
- your normal painting palette (with the colors you typically use)
- brushes (I like to use the Loew Cornell Ultra Round or King Arts Max Round – #10 or larger)
- water containers
- pencil, kneaded eraser
- anything else you normally would have available when painting.
Here’s a list of the colors in my palette in case you want to have some of these in advance (and not rely on my tiny samples for trying the colors I suggest)
Winsor Yellow Deep
Vermilion
Alizarin Crimson (prefer Daniel Smith)
Burnt Sienna (Holbein)
Raw Sienna
Quinacridone Coral
Quinacridone Magenta
Mineral Violet
Manganese Blue or Peacock Blue
Cobalt Blue
Indigo
Hookers Green