In this workshop we will explore expressive approaches to painting skies, clouds, land and seascapes by creating paintings with atmosphere and energy without focusing on too much detail. Learning expressive watercolor allows for loose paintings that convey your unique vision as a painter, and helps you develop the freedom and spontaneity to produce atmospheric, vibrant paintings.

Through teacher demonstrations, practice and individual instruction students will learn how to move beyond the photo reference, understand the pigment to water ratio as you progress through your painting, and how this relates to the tonal values in your composition. Students will learn how to drop pigment onto paper at different stages of drying and how to achieve atmospheric perspective and mood using different strengths of pigment. Practicing these techniques can help students to gain confidence in wet-into-wet, damp into wet, and damp into dry techniques using larger brushes.

There will be instructor demos each day and individual instruction, and you will be able to complete several finished paintings during the course of the weekend. Students may bring their own photographic references of land and seascapes etc. or you may work from the demo images. This workshop is meant for students with some watercolor experience who want to develop more confidence and freedom in handling paint using larger brushes.