Explore the Joy of Watercolour with Jane Wright

For those who have an interest in further exploration of the seductive qualities of the watercolour medium the ACAC is pleased to present Jane Wright; noted watercolour artist and teacher.  Jane has created a 6 hr workshop that will enhance your understanding of what watercolour is and why it behaves the way it does. It will be flexible to build on what you already know of the medium. It will be as technical as you need and hopefully leave you wanting to know a whole lot more.

MATERIALS REQUIRED :

• watercolour paper -all or mostly cotton, 140 lb. cold press, several  pieces at least 9x12 or larger  Arches, Fabriano, Canson, Baohong ( from TEMU, reasonable quality for the money, I'm on my 2nd roll of 15 wide)
• watercolour brushes size 2 or 4 and 6 or 8, squirrel, camel, sable, hog bristle, synthetic ( preferably not oil or acrylic brushes)
• professional quality watercolour paint (warm and cool primaries, yellow, red, blue and a palette (white plates or styrofoam trays are fine) for mixing (ie:Daniel Smith, Holbein, DaVinci, Winsor Newton)
• masking tape up to 1" wide, roll of paper towels, pencil, ruler, eraser, permanent fine line pen (like Pentel, Micron, or W)
• masking fluid is optional, just if you have some
• 2 water containers
• old credit card and something for note taking
• a reference photo
• Your lunch and beverage. There is a fridge available.

Optional

• hair dryer, watercolour or inktense pencils, pieces of sponge, fine mist spray bottle, table salt, pipette, piece of saran wrap

NB - if people don't have paper or aren't sure what to buy I can bring some for sale.

Workshop Overview   * PROCESS OVER RESULTS *

This workshop is designed to build on what you already know about watercolour. The focus will be on watercolour techniques, design elements, and processes to facilitate your personal expression. The goal is NOT to produce a finished painting but to enhance your knowledge and appreciation of what wonderful effects you can achieve with watercolour so that you can expand your 'play' as you work toward finding your own artistic voice. 

Workshop Topics (in no particular order)

1. very brief history of the medium, pigments and notable artists for reference
2. brief overview of colour theory, do some colour mixing exercises
3. how to avoid muddy colours and how to fix them if they happen
4. how to see values, do a value sketch from your photo
5. the use positive and negative space
6. how to use contrast to make your painting dynamic
7. types of lines and what they convey, do line exercises
8. experimentation with different brushstrokes, talk of emotional presence

Jane was an art teacher in the public and private school systems encompassing all grades in Ontario, and Quebec. She taught adult education for Fanshawe College and in France and has shown her work at the Ailsa Craig Arts Centre to great applaud.