Workshop: Sketching and Watercolor Landscape Painting

Join us for an immersive journey into the captivating world of watercolor landscape painting! Over six enriching sessions, you'll explore the fundamentals of this timeless art form, from mastering basic techniques to crafting stunning landscapes brimming with depth and detail. So, the workshop is suitable for beginners and professionals.

In this workshop, for beginners, you'll start with acquainting yourself with the tools to explore essential watercolor techniques, upon which you will see yourself honing your skills in sketching, color theory, and landscape perspective, where you'll steadily progress towards your final masterpiece.

For mid or professionals, you will learn to breathe life into your landscapes with vibrant hues and captivating compositions through the guidance of the artist instructor. Sketching and coloring to uncover the secrets of creating depth, texture, and atmosphere in the landscape of Ramallah.

Artist instructor: Heba Tannous

Heba Tannous is a Palestinian artist with a background in architecture. She documents and represents urban scenes using ink and watercolors to capture the organized chaos of street life. The principal theme in her art style is the intersection between urban morphology and the life of the space.

No. of session: 6 Sessions – 15 hours in total.

Days: Thursdays and Saturdays from 4:30 to 6:30/7:30 pm.

Dates: from 1/6/2024 to 22/6/2024

Workshop Outline:

SESSION 01

Introduce participants to the artist, the basics of watercolor painting, tools and stationary, influences, and presentation of materials.

1.1: Introduction to Watercolor Landscapes

• Warm-up: lines
• Create a stationary diary to understand watercolor materials and tools.

1.2: Color Theory and Mixing

• Understand color theory and the seven basic contrast compositions
• Exploring basic techniques such as washes, wet-on-wet, and dry brush.

SESSION 02

• Dive deeper into color theory and mixing to enhance landscapes.

2.1: Shade and Shadow

• Warm-up: Blind Contouring
• Shade and Shadow in freehand techniques using unconventional color palette

2.2: Thumbnail Sketching and composition

• Analyzing landscape compositions and elements.
• Experimenting with limited palettes.
• Framing and depth
• Elements of the scene

SESSION 03

• Focus on live sketching techniques and planning compositions.

3.1 Outdoor Sketching and Planning

• Planning compositions using a minimum of 3 thumbnail sketches.
• framing
• Sketching a final landscape with detailed studies on the side
• Discussing the importance of values and contrast in landscapes.

SESSION 04

• Explore techniques to create depth and perspective in landscapes.

4.1 Depth and Perspective

• A quick brief on one and two point perspective
• Using aerial perspective to create distance.
• Adding foreground, middle ground, and background elements.
• Incorporating atmospheric effects like fog or mist.

4.2 Natural Elements

• Sketching natural elements with different coloring techniques.

SESSION 05

• Learn techniques for adding textures and details to landscapes.

Textures and Details (outdoor)

• Experimenting with different brushstrokes for foliage, rocks, water, etc.
• Adding fine details using masking fluid or scraping techniques.
• Incorporating texture mediums for interesting effects.

SESSION 06

Final Project and Critique

• Bring together all the skills learned to create a final watercolor landscape.
• Working on a more elaborate landscape painting.
• Encouraging creativity and personal expression.
• Group critique and feedback session to reflect on progress and improvements.

Materials:

Sketchbook 

A3 Sketchbook (watercolor/marker sketchbook <225 gm) Suggested brands (Canson, Strathmore)

watercolors - Suggested brands (Van Gogh, Winsor & Newton)

White color (Gouache or acrylic)

Watercolor Brushes 

Rounded brush (large, medium, and small)