Tuesday 31 August 2010

Watercolour Workshop August 2010

Poppy Fusion
Watercolour Workshop August 2010

I must be one of the luckiest people on earth. Not only do I get to paint on a daily basis but via holding workshops I get to share my passion for watercolour with the most wonderful people. Today saw the first of my weeks workshops in Hampshire, U.K. The group consisted of artists new to my sessions and a few who had been to my workshops before. We started the day with simple warm up exercises and yes, to everyone who knows me that "tomato game"  came up again only with a twist this time! And everyone fell in love with their tomatoes. I realise this only makes sense if you have ever been on one of my workshops sorry!

Following the morning warm up exercises we looked at colour and water.Literally watching paint dry which is pretty fantastic when you work in this medium. I created three effects, one for fur, one for ripples in a poppy petal as seen in the image above and one for feathers using directional brushwork. Following short demonstrations it was time for lunch and before we knew it the time had come for the session to close. Time passes far too quickly when a day is so enjoyable.

I look back at a room filled with eager enthusiasm and so much talent. Each time I teach I learn this. I learn that many people are unaware of how truly gifted they actually are. Because today I saw genuine beginnings of many future paintings that could be filled with excitement,drama and impact. All in individual unique ways. I am privileged to be a part of watercolour journeys by others and that thought does thrill me. I want everyone I know to love watercolour as much as I do. I want everyone to get as excited as I do when gorgeous colour fusions occur in front of their eyes and I want everyone to feel that blissful feeling of magic when things go right in a painting. As I feel when I  capture the essence of many subjects simply and with emotion in my paintings.

Tomorrow sees a different group of artists and demonstrations.

I can't wait.

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1 comment:

bonne destination said...

Hi Jean,

Joan here ...

What an inspiring session today. Thank you so much. A great artist and a great teacher is a very rare combination!

My head has been buzzing with colour mixes and brush strokes ever since and I woke up at 5.30 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep because I was painting in my mind's eye... correcting all the poor colour choices from the day before!

Enjoy your success and please keep on sharing your thoughts and your works of art : it is better than therapy.