**I ALSO OFFER THIS IN A ONCE-A-WEEK FORMAT** That listing is here: https://outschool.com/classes/the-wonderful-wet-world-of-watercolor-painting-basics-and-special-art-effects-dMVljrcs#usvmadas0y

Watercolors are so much more than liquid crayons, which is how many kids use them. Half the fun of watercolors is the amazing effects you can create with them! In this camp we will explore basics on day 1, and then expand to the more fascinating effects on subsequent days. 

IMPORTANT NOTE ON THE REQUIRED ART STUPPLIES:
More on this later, but for the best results, it's important to have quality watercolor paper and paints - which doesn't necessarily mean expensive! Just know that you cannot get some of these effects to work without true watercolor paper and good paint, and I don't want anyone to feel frustrated or like they're doing something wrong when it's all about the materials. Much more on that in the supply notes.)

WHAT IS THIS CLASS?
In this fun five-day class, young artists will explore the many ways we can use watercolors! I emphasize process over product, and more than anything else we'll be doing a lot of experimentation - my goal is for them to gain familiarity with the medium and its many fun possibilities. Even if they've used watercolors before, I hope they'll find new ways to think about them in this class. Any more finished-looking pieces they create will be entirely self-generated, from their imaginations.

WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS CLASS?
It's designed for those kids who mostly use watercolor in a paint-some-lines-and-then-fill-in-with-single-colors kind of way - so even if your kids have a bit of experience using them, if that's how they use them, they'll gain new skills here. The special effects exploration might appeal to those with a bit more experience. But do note that I treat this as a beginner-level class, and on the first day we start by talking about the most effective ways to use the medium, down to how to start activating the colors in your tray, and doing a full day of basic abstract exploration, playing with different ways to use brushes and mix colors. But by the end of the four days, they'll have ample tools in their watercolor toolkit to play with!

WHAT WILL STUDENTS CREATE?
I can't tell you what specific artworks they'll end up with - what I can tell you is, all their work will be created with watercolors :) And much of what they create will be totally abstract, as I am teaching techniques more than anything else, so they may not have that much 'finished' artwork, but they'll have a lot of inspiration to create it! 

It is important to note: I do NOT offer step-by-step guidance to create look-alike artworks - every student's work will be different. Although I will demonstrate techniques for students to practice in class with me, most of their artwork will be completely self-generated based on the themes and techniques of the day. I will give them ideas and guidelines, eg asking them to focus on a particular color set or giving them certain restrictions to think about, but if they want to deviate, I won't stop them - I'll all about student-led, inspiration-led artwork! Every child will come up with something of their own.

WHAT IS YOUR TEACHING STYLE?
I teach a very interactive class. I ask students questions and hope for active participation. I demonstrate using a document camera on my hands, and check for comprehension regularly along the way. I try to use stories & analogies to help students remember concepts.

WHAT IS THE CLASS OUTLINE?
Day 1: Introduction and watercolor basics - different types of lines, blending, wet on dry vs wet on wet
Day 2: Wet on wet and gradations
Day 3: Removing color from your paper - experiments with salt, paper towels/tissues/cotton balls or pads, tape
Day 4: Texture & Resist - experiment with plastic wrap, wax paper (optional), and crayons
Day 5: Mini nightscapes, glazing exploration

WHAT SUPPLIES DO I NEED?
PLEASE SEE THE FULL LIST IN THE SUPPLIES SECTION, but for the best results for your kids, it's important to provide real watercolor paper and decent paints!!  Often, the pan sets that come as part of a large art kit with pastels and colored pencils, the kind that that has many, many colors of watercolors in them, have more binder than color and are harder to paint with.

-watercolors: a pan set (please, not tubes of watercolor) - 8 colors is more than enough as they can blend their own! A standalone set like Prang or Crayola will likely be a much better quality than a set of many many colors that comes within a larger art kit with lots of different supplies.
-140lb watercolor paper - please have a pad or stack of it available as we will go through at least 2-3 sheets every day. (Please note, although thick drawing paper can work with watercolors, 'special effects' won't work nearly as well since it absorbs more quickly than watercolor paper. If that is all you have to work with, your student's effects won't be as notable and may in fact feel frustrating.) It's important to buy watercolor-specific paper that's 140lb weight, not pads that say 'watercolor and marker paper' or lightweight pads labeled watercolor paper, because that will not act like watercolor paper even if it says that it is. 
-brushes - you will need more than the tiny brush that comes with the watercolor set. You definitely need a bigger, thicker brush. You can get nice brush sets for $5-6; I will offer suggestions in the classroom.
-a jar to hold water, no more than half-full
-folded up paper towel or washcloth
-crayons 
-then a bunch of other things, most of which you may already have in your house, like scotch tape, tissues, paper towels, cotton balls, plastic wrap

A FEW OUTSCHOOL RULES OF NOTE:
-Although siblings may share a camera, all participating students must be registered individually.
-I must verify students with cameras on, so please verify your camera is working! In addition, I request that students leave their cameras on during class. I find it very challenging to teach to black boxes with names in them, as I cannot tell how the black boxes are doing with their artwork :)
-I have a limited refund policy in place. I cannot honor last-minute requests for transfers or refunds except in exceptional circumstances.