When I was teaching watercolor painting classes a few years back, I followed a series of paintings that allowed for learning in a methodical order. My students were a little confused, as the primary purpose of the paintings was not to create something that was "stunning" or "beautiful" - although in my opinion, any art work contains these elements on their own.
One color painting taught them how to get the different values of light to dark. Two color painting taught temperature; where is the light coming from and it's cooler in shady areas. Three color painting taught blending. Each painting built on the lessons learned from the previous art work. These paintings also taught students that inspiration can come from anywhere. The inspiration for these exercises came from:
- A picture from a magazine,
- A picture I took off of Waterman's Beach in South Thomaston,
- My imagination.
The painting with the fishing vessel "Bounty" was the summation of all the lessons. Students were now capable of putting a basic painting together, and with practice, the tools became easier to apply. My classes usually consisted of meeting once a week for eight weeks. The first four weeks covered basic color wheel concepts, materials, values, as well as the techniques described above. The last four weeks were used to teach brush strokes, knife techniques, and how to "fix mistakes", depending on the artists perspective.
Until next time,
The Happy Painter,
Jill
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