Realistic Figurative Painting in Watercolor with Ruth Andrews-Vreeland (Tuesday through Friday)

Have you ever wanted to paint a realistic figurative portrait, but felt it might be too challenging?  Then this workshop is for you!  Students will learn (or review) the basics of handling watercolor paints and brushes, as well as the following significant skills:  methods for glazing and layering, the importance of saving ‘some’ of the white of the paper, key techniques for creating effective neutral colors and perfect skin-tones, softening and/or losing a few edges, the value of incorporating background-color into foreground-shadows, and painting the initial layer “en grisaille.”  We will cover all of this as we work on paintings of a figurative nature, using your own personal photos of family members or friends, and we will discuss the crucial need to recognize a good vs. bad photo reference.  We’ll also focus on some essentials like:  ensuring you have a strong initial drawing, how to achieve a beautiful “chiaroscuro” (which always makes for a better, more interesting painting!), and of course, the “must-haves” of good value-contrast.  Many demonstrations will be provided to assist you as you learn these techniques, but students will also have plenty of painting time.

Please sigh up early; class size is limited to 12 students.