The goal of the class will be to demystify watercolors, from planning, materials, composition, washes, shapes, perspective, values, edges and anything else that comes up. The day will start with a short talk and demo followed by the class trying to paint following the advice.
Watercolor artist Jack Haran is the past president of the New England Watercolor Society (NEWS) and past President of North River Arts Society (NRAS). He sits on the Board of Directors for NRAS. He earned a BS in Fine Arts from Northeastern University and a School of the Museum of Fine Arts Diploma. He has studied with Tony Van Hasselt and Judi Wagner, Zygmond Jankowski, John Kilroy, Alvaro Castagnet and Joseph Zbukvic.
Materials List
Backing Board and Masking tape to mount paper – a backing board is anything stiff enough to mount your paper onto, I use Coroplast white corrugated plastic. It is the stuff that politicians make sign out of (you can get it cheap after an election – pick it up at the side of the road).
Easel - anything to allow you to work on your paper at about a 35 degree angle,
Water Bucket and Spray Bottle,
Palette with mixing wells,
Paper should be good quality 140 pound at least. I use Saunders Waterford rough.
Brushes: Some of the brands mentioned below come in a series of sizes and shapes, so it would be worthwhile looking them up and comparing prices.
The size of the brush is important. There should be 3 brushes, one large, one medium and one small.
1 Large soft brush for washes, ie. Escoda Aquario Mop # 18 OR Princeton Quill # 6 OR 1¼ inch Flat Wash OR Cheap Joe – Dream Catcher # 16 (this is made by Escoda) OR Blick Escoda Ultimo Synthetic Squirrel Flat ,3/4 or 1 inch OR Blick Master Squirrel brushes (these are made by Escoda and are cheaper versions of the Ultimo) OR Mary Whyte’s cat tongue 3/4 inch made by Artexpress
1 Medium Round, ie. Cheap Joe Golden Fleece # 12 OR Escoda Perla # 16 OR Cheap Joe – Dream Catcher # 12 (this is made by Escoda)
1 small rigger, ie. Cheap Joe Golden Fleece rigger # 4
The brushes listed above are good brushes but if you already have brushes that are equivalent then yours will be fine.
Paints
Three primary colors, a warm and a cool of each, such as:
Reds – Alizarin Crimson and Quinacridone Red,
Blues – Cerulian and Cobalt
Yellows – Lemon Yellow and Raw Sienna
Neutral Tint, Gouache White
