Watercolor: Tips, Tricks and Techniques

In this workshop, I will share with you some really great tips, tricks and techniques I have learned along the way, either through my own experimentation or from some pretty amazing artists including Carl Purcell, Karen Frey, the late, great, Charles Reid, and John Salminen. You don’t need to be an expert for this class; I’ll show you how a lot of special effects are accomplished, and how to get those really great darks that make your paintings exceptional!No middle-value blah paintings here!

Saturday, November 2
10 – 3 pm

Instructor: Ronnie Rector
Ages: Adult (15+) / All Levels

Supply List:

Bring your own watercolor painting kit, but be sure to have the following:
•    One full sheet (22×30) of Arches 140 lb cold press, which you will tear into eight 5.5×7.5 pieces, or a watercolor sketchbook*.
•    Pen and pencil, to sketch with and take notes.
•    Watercolor** brushes: A #6 and #10 round, and a 1” flat, will be adequate. I recommend Silver’s Black Velvet brushes or Richeson’s “Quiller” 7000 series brushes as an excellent, not-too-expensive choice.
•    Watercolor paints of your choice. “Artist grade” paint, please – colors are stronger and more vivid.  My favorite colors are listed at the end of this, if you’re interested.
•    Watercolor palette. I recommend something like Cheap Joe’s Original palette or the Robert Wood palette, which both have bigger wells for your paints and large mixing areas. The tiny travel palettes are okay but bring a white plate or metal butcher’s tray (RESCO) to make good puddles of paint in.
•    Roll of 2” masking tape (NOT blue or green painter’s tape or white “artist’s” tape).
•    Wide mouth water container – the plastic “Folgers Coffee”-style tubs are great!
•    Small container of salt
•    Spray bottle for water
•    Sea sponge if you have one. If not, you can watch the demonstrated techniques and see if you like them.
•    Paper Towels (Viva are best for watercolors!)
•    Blow Dryer

*Be sure your sketchbook is made with (at a minimum) 140 lb. watercolor paper, which can hold up to applications of water and paint without shredding like sketch paper.

**Brushes used for acrylics will not provide the results you want to see when working in watercolor. 

If buying supplies at NV Fine Arts, tell them you’re taking my class and they’ll give you a 10% discount.

Questions? Send me an email!  ronnierector@yahoo.com
 

Buy what YOU like, though; don’t limit yourself to my choices!

Buy what YOU like, though; don’t limit yourself to my choices!

If you don’t already have watercolors of some sort, here’s a good place to start:

Source – Nevada Fine Arts:
1 full sheet of Arches 140 lb cold press watercolor paper (~$10)
1 size 8(ish) round watercolor paint brush – Richeson 7000 “Quiller” series (~$15)
3 tubes of Daniel Smith watercolors, a blue, a red and a yellow; each are from $9 to $12. I suggest:
Cobalt or Ultramarine Blue
Carmine or Pyrrol Red
Azo Yellow or Hansa Yellow Medium
A plastic palette with a few good sized wells ($5-$15) or butcher tray for mixing paints
And a good-sized container for water, a roll of plain ol’ masking tape, and some Viva paper towels.
Email me if you have any questions about your watercolor kit – ronnierector@yahoo.com!