Little Birders- Watercolor Birds - Sketch & Paint - Nature Journal Techniques

Many of my drawing students ask me to offer a class where they can try using watercolor to complete their drawings instead of finishing in pencil. I have created this class specifically for students who already feel confident in their ability to sketch a subject (in this case, a bird), and would like to learn how to take that basic sketch and finish it with watercolor paint. 
Since students in this class should feel relatively confident in their ability to draw, the method we will use is one that relies heavily on what students already do well (drawing) to become more confident in the skill they are learning (painting).

Many artists using watercolor slowly build up light layers of color to create a realistic finish with no visible drawing underneath. However, rather than a style of watercolor that takes lots of time and patience to complete, we will learn a hybrid between drawing and painting that is great for young students and those just beginning to paint in watercolor. We will work by using washes of color to bring color and life to the subject, but use a pen and drawing skills to give outline and detail.
This is a great introductory way to create beautiful and expressive paintings without first having to master the skill of painting. 
It is also a fantastic style to learn for students who are interested in learning art techniques for nature journaling. It can be used to create fast and attractive paintings of all subjects in nature studies.

The best part about this style is the way it not only encourages, but also CELEBRATES creating art that is full of exciting experimentation, imperfection and beautiful mistakes. It gives students a chance to experience the process of following where the materials lead and creating beauty without the pressure of perfection.

Class times for this class are not always scheduled, but the class is available. If you don’t see a class time listed or that works for your schedule, please click "SHOW ALTERNATIVE TIMES" or "REQUEST A CLASS" just above the description, and feel free to schedule one of the available times for a class to suit your needs.

Great news! We will paint one out of a selection of 4-5 birds in each of the one-hour classes. That means you can repeat the class on a different week and paint a different bird. 
 
CLASS BREAKDOWN:
Class time: (up to) 1 hour and 10 minutes - We may finish early but each class is blocked off for the entire hour and ten minutes to give us ample time.  *Please show up on time and ready to begin for your class. If you show up late or are unprepared the class will still end at the scheduled time and it might prevent your student from getting all the way through the material. 

* At the beginning of class I will show the class side by side examples of artworks that have been created using various methods of watercolor painting to help students understand the many possibilities for using watercolor in artwork.
Then I will demonstrate the various ways to use drawing skill to improve the result of paintings and the method/style that we will use in the class lesson.

* Next we will spend only 10 minutes of our class creating the basic sketch for our painting before moving on to exploring the paint methods. This will give us the most time to explore the watercolor medium.  It is very difficult to sketch and complete a painting in one hour, so I have made this class an hour and ten minutes long. Students will need to come with the expectation that we will move through our sketch quickly. Our sketch does not have to be perfect or refined like a finished drawing.

* After completing our sketch we will use our waterproof pen to create a basic outline of our drawing, then fill this paired down drawing with our watercolor to create an expressive, colorful bird.

* Finally we will come back with our pen and add any details we see fit, similar to the technique we would use to complete the final details in a pencil drawing. 

***Please note: Due to the setup of this lesson, the minimum enrollment may need to be met for the class to be held. Some classes are flexible in the case of low enrollments, but if your section does not have enough enrollments within 24 hours of the class, it will be cancelled. So tell your friends to join! You will have the option of transferring to future class, or withdrawal and refund.