Back to Basics in Watercolour (workshop 1)

This workshop is for those that are struggling to get to grips with watercolour, have tried it out before and and been put off, or work in different media and want to learn the key techniques of watercolour to avoid the common pitfalls and bad habits. We will cover all the dos and don’ts of this challenging medium including– colour mixing, wet-into–wet, layering and blending and effective brushwork. Through carefully guided exercises you will learn the key skills which you can take away and practise again at home in your own time.

Building on the Basics in Watercolour (workshop 2)

This is a follow up to the the Basics course where we will apply the techniques from the first session to paint various subjects throughout the day, including a simple landscape and still life, to further develop your skills and gain more confidence and achieve more predictable results.

You can book only one of the workshops or both.

BEGINNERS WATERCOLOUR MATERIALS

Brushes: Sable watercolour brushes are best but pricey, so l use a lot of synthetics these days as the quality is so much better than it used to be. The lower price means that you can afford to buy more sizes.
• SAA Silver all rounder brush size 10,
or Ken Bromley Artists' Value Round Ftofie Brush size 12
• SAA Silver flatmate brush 0.5inch
• 1 inch flat brush (arry make)
• Artway Synthetic quill Mop, set of 3 are an excelent value set

Paints
Here are the colours we will be using:
cobalt blue, ultramarine blue, lemon yellow, cadmium yellow, cadmium red, alizarin crimson,
burnt sienna or sepia, winsor violet (dioxazine) and paynes grey If you are buying colours individually, watercolours in tubes are better value in the long run. I use Winsor and Newton Artists' quality tubes, but recently I have been buying Jackson's own brand as they are very reasonably priced and good quality, although they don't have as many colours as other brands. If you prefer to buy pans (small dry squares of colour) it is better to get them as a complete set in a portable palette. Rosa Gallery watercolour sets are very good value and come in a variety of different sized sets and can be bought from Ken Bromley's art supplies.
Bockingford 300gsm Glued Watercolour Pad 14'x 10* (360 x 260mm) this is a reasonable quality paper in a glued block that won't cockle as you paint on it.

Other bits
Plastic palette with deep wells for watercolour
• Water pot
• Water spray (not vital)
• 2b pencil and eraser
• paper towels

Please bring your own lunch but HACG will provide tea/coffee/milk.
 
Time and location: 5 December 2025 (workshop 1) / 9 January 2026 (workshop 2) - 10:00am to 4:00pm at Dunsden Village Hall, RG4 9QG
 
*** Please note only one place per member ***