Watercolour Painting for Beginners - Edwinstowe Library - Adult Learning

This course is designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to the art of watercolour painting.

Watercolour painting is celebrated for its translucency, fluidity, and vibrant colour potential, making it a favorite medium for artists of all levels.

Throughout this course, you will explore the fundamental processes and techniques that underpin successful watercolour painting.

You will get to know the materials, including brushes, paints, and paper, and understand how each element interacts to create different effects.

You will develop skills in using different watercolour techniques, colour theory, colour mixing, and compositional elements.

By the end of the course, you will have explored various techniques, gained confidence, and developed the skills necessary for creating future artwork.

This course is suitable for complete beginners and improvers wanting to refresh their skills.

Some experience of drawing and painting is useful, but not essential.

Each session will include demonstrations, hands-on practice, and constructive feedback to help you progress.

By the end of the course you will have gained an understanding of:

• Preparing for painting: learning about watercolour papers, brushes, properties, and behaviours of paint (transparency and consistencies) and creating colour swatches.

• Colour theory and colour mixing: creating a colour wheel and understanding colour schemes for paintings.

• Watercolour techniques: washes, glazes, wet in wet, dry brush, glazing, etc.

• Elements of composition & perspective: focal points using rule of thirds, perspective, depth & dimension.

• Creating abstract landscape paintings: painting with loose washes and bold colours to represent stylized scenery.

• Creating detailed studies: using wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, and other techniques to capture intricate details, texture, pattern and colour variation.

What you will need to bring to the course:

• A pencil

• A putty rubber (not essential, but useful)

• A selection of different paintbrushes – flat brushes & round tipped brushes in different sizes.

• A4 sized watercolour paper 140lbs/300gsm

• Watercolour paints – such as Windsor & Newton, Cotman, Derwent

• A palette with wells

• Paper towel

• Masking tape