BEGINNERS
FOUNDATION COURSE
The Beginners Foundation Course is three intensive workshops covering all the information and skills a student needs to set up a regular watercolour practice.
This course is ideal for the pure beginner who has never tried watercolour before or done anything artistic and has been too nervous to join a mixed ability class.
The course is also very helpful for the intermediate painter who feels that they were never taught the basics and wish to increase their confidence by completing their training and ensuring a solid foundation for their practice
2025 DATES
MODULE 1... 4TH OCTOBER
MODULE 2... 8TH NOVEMBER
MODULE 3... 29TH NOVEMBER
The course will be held in the Ipsden village hall.
There is a lot of tuition with hand outs, practical exercises and using the techniques in final paintings to help consolidate the information and cement it to memory.
ALL MATERIALS WILL BE SUPPLIED
Cost for the complete course is £447 which covers lots of supportive tuition, all materials, handouts and refreshments...please bring a packed lunch.
To secure your place, a deposit of £149 will be required when booking before the 1st August 2025
Students who have already taken the Beginners Foundation Course are eligible for the graduate half price offer.
Beginners Foundation Course 2025
Started Oct 4
447 British pounds
MODULE 1
Understanding the watercolour kit
a. Brushes - their shapes, numbers and what they’re used for
b. Paints – the difference in brands and difference in artist and student quality, light fastness, percentage pigment etc
c. Best pencils for watercolour painting
d. Papers – understanding the difference between cold pressed, hot pressed, rough and the different weights
e. Palettes – understanding the different types and what they’re used for
f. All the hints and tips for a good kit and keeping things orderly
Basic Washes
We will be learning how to:
a. do a flat wash
b. a graded wash
c. work from light to dark
d. work from dark to light
e. lift out colour
f. reserving the white of the paper
g. various other basic painting techniques
Tonal Value
Students will be taught the importance of the play of light and dark on a painting and how to translate it into their work finishing with a monochromatic painting capturing four tonal values.
MODULE 2
Composition
a. Understanding focal points and focal pathways
b. The golden section
c. Composition types
d. Using a view finder
e. Placement
f. Thumbnail sketches for composition and tonal value
Perspective
Simple perspective will be covered including aerial perspective
Two pigment painting
Students will consolidate their knowledge of tonal value and composition with a duo-chrome painting of a landscape.
Also covered
a. Basic mixing skills for neutrals
b. Tints
c. Interesting darks
d. Wet in wet washes
MODULE 3
Colour Theory
a. Introduction to the colour wheel
b. Understanding primaries, secondaries and tertiaries and colour mixing
c. Mixing neutrals out of triads
d. Understanding analogous painting
e. Understanding complementary painting
f. Understanding split complementary painting
Students will be given mixing exercises and will then look at a triad of three primaries to mix secondaries, tertiaries and neutrals reproducing named browns and greys like Burnt Sienna and Paynes grey.
Students will consolidate their understanding of colour theory with a painting in a triad.
If the course is full and you would like to be added to the waiting list please contact Denny by clicking the button below.
