June 3, 2023 |

Spontaneous Watercolor Landscapes Workshop with Steve Mitchell

Join our free watercolor workshops with Instructor Steve Mitchell in his series titled Spontaneous Watercolor Landscapes.

Steve’s spontaneous landscape painting is a process of playing with watercolor paint in a largely unplanned way. It began as a way for him to test supplies and techniques with little to no pressure to produce a finished work. Eventually it also became a game of trying to pick out landscape forms and sometimes produce a finished painting. It provides a fun, stress free and sometimes exciting approach to getting out your art supplies and experimenting, which often leads to discoveries you might not have made otherwise.⁠ Students will follow along and learn how to create their own abstract watercolor landscapes!

SUPPLY LIST

Strathmore 500 Series Ready Cut Watercolor Paper, cold press, 8x10, 100% cotton
OR Strathmore 500 Series Watercolor Travel Pad, cold press, 8x10, 100% cotton
MaimeriBlu Watercolors
Princeton Neptune Mottler 2”
Princeton Neptune Oval Wash ¾″ OR Princeton Aqua Elite Quill Size 6
Princeton Aqua Elite Long Rounds in a few sizes - Steve uses sizes 12, 8 and 4
Princeton Neptune Aquarelle Square Wash Brushes in a few sizes - Steve uses sizes ¼″, ½″ and ¾″
Princeton Neptune Script Size 1 OR Aqua Elite Liner Size 1

CLASS LINEUP

Lesson 1: Intro to Spontaneous Landscape Painting

Why spontaneous landscape painting? Materials and methods used and a rationale for making it part of your regular art practice. Practicing the background layer with 2 different methods: wet-on-wet approach vs. wet-on-dry approach.

Lesson 2: Spontaneous Landscape Painting using the Wet-on-Wet Method

Laying the foundation and creating a spontaneous landscape from start to finish using method one; wet-on-wet approach with an earth and violet color palette.

Lesson 3: Spontaneous Landscape Painting using the Wet-on-Dry Method

Steve will demonstrate how to create a spontaneous landscape painting from start to finish using method two: wet-on-dry approach with a limited color palette of green and brown earth tones.

Lesson 4: Merging Spontaneity with Planning in a Watercolor Landscape

Steve will show you how to aim for a fresh, spontaneous feel in all your work if you have a planned subject in mind already. We’ll take the concepts learned in the first 3 lessons and apply them to a subject that may be more realistic or specific. The final result will be a piece that merges the spontaneous characteristics of watercolor with controlled rendering.