Book Report: John Lidzey's Watercolour Painting Workshop

A gem from 1995, John Lidzey's Watercolour Workshop has been a great discovery for my watercolor education.

Lidzey walks the reader through basic watercolor instruction and step-by-step projects,

so you learn as you go.

The book is chock-full of inspiration in the form of luscious paintings of simple, everyday scenes.

Lidzey treats everyday places and vignettes with reverence. His romantic paintings make me rethink my habit of painting only nature and landscapes. 

If you're curious about what's included in the workshop, here's the list of contents:

John Lidzey in his home studio.

Though it's been out of print for some time, I found this book online on a used book site for less than $15.  That's an inexpensive workshop! You might look for it in your local library.

I find that books like this one let me dive more deeply into watercolor studies than a quick video would. And there's something peaceful about flipping through pages rather than gazing at a screen. I can take it at my own pace.

I hope you'll find a new-to-you art book to inspire you and help you grow!

Make a Mini Color Journal

Sometimes you want to do something creative, something playful & relaxing, and not too complicated.  

I have the ideal activity -- Create a mini color journal!

With only 4 small pages to cover, it's perfect to fill a summer hour or two.

I made my color journal (see instructions below) out of watercolor paper, then drew designs with a white Crayola crayon.  

It's hard to see white wax on white paper, so just be bold; press hard; and keep it simple.  If you need to double-check where you've drawn with the crayon, hold the paper at an angle to the light, and you can see it faintly.

Over top of the white crayon, I painted a scene loosely with watercolor paints.  Any type of watercolors or watery ink would work.  The waxy crayon repels the watery paint, so your crayon design shows through magically.

After the watercolors dried, I added more designs with alcohol markers & paint pens.

Use whatever materials you have: Sharpies, markers, gel pens, or colored pencils would work well.  You could even use the other crayons in the pack over top of the watercolor paint.

In some places, I didn't press down hard enough with the white crayon, so it was washed out by the watercolors.  I strengthened the line with a white paint pen in these cases.

Ready to make your own mini color journal?

Here's a short video on how to make your own little booklet out of a single sheet of paper. The video uses copy paper.  I used Canson XL 140# cold-pressed watercolor paper. You'll also need scissors and a glue stick or other glue.

I love playing with colors simply for the sake of celebrating color itself. I find it's a great form of relaxation and self care for me.

I hope it does the same for you! 

Painting Classes on Board the Queen Mary 2

Among the lovely offerings during a transatlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2 is an array of speakers and classes.  

I took advantage of 3 sessions with a skilled artist and teacher, George Burch. 

In each class, he walked us through basic information on watercolor paints, brushes, papers and techniques.  

In our final class, he set up this still life for us to paint.

One thing I like about still life painting is that you can choose whatever portion of the scene you'd like to paint.  I chose to paint the whole scene, but you could always leave out the wine glass or select just the fruit.

Why not give it a try? You can paint from this photo or set up your own still life!

Osher Figure Drawing with Model Sophia

 In my final Osher Figure Drawing class of the summer, we were fortunate to have model Sophia.  Her graceful presence on the stand inspired us all, and I stole a few minutes from instructing and assisting students to make this sketch in pastels on Canson Mi Teintes paper. 

Many thanks to Sophia for her uplifting performance!  

Painting Flowers with Pastels Final Week

In the final week of my class Painting Flowers with Pastels, I picked zinnias, Queen Anne's lace, mint & clover from my own gardens and fields for my students to paint.  Here's my classroom demonstration sketch.

I used a combination of Rembrandt, Grumbacher, Schmincke and Sennelier soft pastels -- a collection of materials I have picked up secondhand at places like the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse.

I have a habit of bringing in a variety of different brands of materials to my classes, and inviting my students to try them out.  I think it's valuable to "test-drive" high quality art supplies before investing in them.  

I must admit, the few Sennelier pastels in my collection are a dream to work with -- soft, with dense, rich colors.

I hope you'll join me for an art class.  The Community College of Beaver County schedule of fall classes is online and open for sign-ups.  You can find my art classes here:

https://ccbc.coursestorm.com/category/arts

A Private Session with Model David

I recently had the privilege of drawing David at a private session. 

I used a variety of different drawing media, selecting whatever looked like fun at the beginning of each pose, from colored pencils, to graphite, to ink pens, an ink brush pen, and even watercolors.

The session began with a series of 1-minute gestures.

During the 2-minute gestures, David used a bright fabric flag on a staff as a prop.

We moved on to 5-minute poses, and I was able to add complexity to my drawings.

The short gestures helped me to warm up, and the 10-minute poses felt extravagantly long.

We finished with some 15-minute poses, including one with a bag of snack food.

I'm grateful to David for his creativity in presenting these beautiful poses.

Painting Flowers with Pastels

I've been teaching a class in painting flowers with pastels at the Community College of Beaver County.  

Each week, I buy flowers for class, and bring in pastel paper to match.  We sketch and paint the flowers while listening to classical music. 

The first class we had gorgeous fuchsia & yellow lilies.  We practiced drawing them on brown craft paper, and then switched to Canson Mi Teintes pastel paper.

In each class, I demonstrate the process of beginning the drawing, then adding colors and finishing with details.

This week, we drew bright, summery sunflowers. The rich oranges and yellows felt inspiring and sunny.

If you'd like to take a class with me, check out my classes page here:

https://betsyblissart.blogspot.com/p/online-art-classes.html