Realism in Watercolor with Ruth Vreeland (Monday through Thursday)

Join Ruth Andrews-Vreeland for a fabulously-fast-fun watercolor workshop where we will explore multiple aspects of realism in both still-life and portraiture, including the differences in painting soft cloth, flower-petals, or hair … vs. metal and glass.  Anyone who wants to learn how to paint in watercolor using multiple transparent layers for ultimate depth in their work will enjoy this class. Students will learn the basics of handling watercolor paints and brushes, and explore a variety of techniques (glazing, layering, methods for saving the white of the paper, key techniques in creating the perfect neutral color, softening edges, creating “lost edges,” the importance of incorporating the background color into foreground shadows), and other important concepts for depicting realism in watercolor.  We’ll be working fast on a few small still-lifes and one-to-two small portraits.  These will be all be created using great photo references, some which will be provided by the instructor, and some by you, the student.  As the workshop progresses we will discuss composition, contrast of values, the essentials of a good initial drawing, how to achieve perfect chiaroscuro, and working from great vs. merely “good” (or even bad) photo references.  Several technical demonstrations will complement your studio work. The goal of this class is to give students the basic tools necessary to begin their own personal work, using transparent layers. 

Please sign up early; class size is limited.

Materials List