With wit and whimsy, filled with a passionate knowledge of the history of watercolor painting, Dr. Standring will hold your attention during this five-day workshop in which you’ll cover all the basics. Fundamentally, you’ll learn with hands-on exercises that watercolor techniques are closely aligned with paper surfaces, brushes, and even the pigments themselves. All of these have interesting properties that lend to the final painting.

You’ll watch demonstrations of painting techniques and experiment with cold and hot press papers, natural and artificial brushes, different brands of watercolor pigments, learn about stretching paper, and set up your portable kit for painting on site while traveling for pleasure or for work. And most of all, you’ll learn how to discern what constitutes a true watercolor painting and you’ll acquire the tools to continue experimenting with watercolor painting for a lifetime!

A review of what students might bring:  

• Watercolor pad (Recommended: 9 x 12 inches, Chanson XL). Watercolor blocks are more expensive if your budget can afford them: [9 x 12 Saunders Waterford White (20 sheets), or Fabriano 20 sheets—both 140 lb—or panoramic size, for example by Sennelier, 9 x 4 inches]
• Watercolor pigment kits with ‘half-pans’ from Schmincke [Horadam Aquarelle]; Sennelier, Windsor Newton, QOR are acceptable, but I recommend working from small 5.ml tubes rather than the half pans. If purchasing tubes, my pigment recommendations are: Neutral Tint, Cobalt Turquoise, Lavender, Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine (or French Ultramarine), Windsor Violet (WN), Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Orange, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, Yellow Ochre, and Cadmium Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Ivory Black, and Titanium White. You needn’t purchase all from only one manufacturer.
• Watercolor brushes: flats and rounds (recommended synthetic brands: Silver Black Velvet brand is my current favorite; da Vinci Casaneo, Princeton Aqua Elite, Princeton Velvet touch, Raphael Precision, rounds, sizes 8 to 14, perhaps even a smaller one, but sizes vary according to manufacturers; an inexpensive boar’s hair 1 inch flat brush); and an oil painter’s brush, number 4 bright (it is a small stubby brush on a long handle). If cost is not an issue, purchase a da Vinci (brand) Artissimo, no. 428 no. 1; if treated well, it will last a decade or more.
• Sketchbook: my favorite is Seawhite of Briton, landscape format (A4 size), but a sketchbook with a spiral binder is fine. Make sure the paper will take water pigments without piling.
• Two containers for water (Sea to Summit brand collapsible is terrific)
• Watercolor palette—the flat rectangular box for mixing colors (Recommended: Loew Cornell flat plastic palette that folds, but there are many to select from on Amazon, Blick’s, or Jerry’s Artarama; or a Holbein enameled palette), but a broad porcelain white dinner plate purchased at a thrift store will do.  If you purchase the plastic palette, wash off the surface with a plastic sponge and soapy warm water before putting pigment into the small boxes.  We can do this on the first day of class.
• ½ inch artist masking tape
• Plastic ice cube tray
• 2 oz pump spray bottle
• Graphite pencil (Recommended: Faber Castell 3 H “grip 2001”)
• Pabeo drawing gum
• Cartographer’s Pen
• Roll of soft paper towels [Viva is recommended]
• Equipment for open air painting: recommended for lightweight painting easels with tripods at www.enpleinairpro.com. You can position your easel to paint standing up or sitting down.
• Small, lightweight, camping stool
• Enthusiasm, curiosity, courage to mess up your palette, and questions!