Understanding the steps and processes required to piece together a painting is crucial. Believe it or not, painting begins even before you put your brush to paper! We will do a variety of exercises that will build your confidence in knowing what colours to use and at what time to use specific techniques. I'll go through my 7-step process that will ensure you end up with a painting you're proud of.

The process in summary:

• Choose a suitable scene or reference photo
• Identify the light and dark areas - Squint!
• Select the compositional and design elements you want to include/exclude. This also means thinking about perspective. You may need to alter the light source and shadows. Or change the colours. This is a tricky step and I'll talk about this more while we complete our projects together. I learned through trial and error and through some theory - the rule of thirds, odd-numbered subjects.
• Sketch in pen or pencil
• Paint the light
• Paint the shadows
• Paint the darkest areas and highlights

Other topics covered in this class include:

• Water consistency/Colour mixing
• Understanding values and colour
• Brush control
• Techniques: the 2 essential techniques to know in order to layer effectively
• One Point Perspective crash course
• Composition
• Building confidence
• Handling mistakes, Self-limiting thoughts
• Building resilience, persistence
• 7-step Unique watercolour painting process
• Putting everything together to complete a painting