Painting Stronger Watercolors 

March 4-8, 2019

Workshop information from Andy: There seems to be a never-ending quest to loosen up in watercolor. I hear it from my students all the time. It’s easy to fall into the trap of putting too much into your paintings, and editing out the non-essential whether working from photo reference or painting on location is so important. Painting loosely doesn't just happen, it comes from gaining a comfort level with your skills and materials over time. However, there are techniques that can speed up this process. In my workshop, we’ll discuss ways to simplify a scene into larger shapes that will help you paint more boldly. Value studies are emphasized from the outset. I will complete at least one demonstration painting each day, covering topics such as drawing, skies, trees, buildings, water, and figures. By the end of the class, each student should have enough information to help them on their path to painting impressionistic watercolors.

Andy began painting watercolors in the mid 1990’s, is largely self-taught, and has studied with such well known watercolorists as Skip Lawrence, Eric Weigardt, Alvaro Castagnet and Joseph Zbukvic. His watercolors first gained recognition after winning an international competition through American Artist magazine in 2005.  His paintings have appeared on the cover of American Artist’s Watercolor magazine and in International Artist, Watercolor Artist, Plein Air and American Art Collector magazines.  His award-winning paintings are in collections on 4 continents and he has become a sought-after workshop instructor who paints and teaches internationally. 

He served as president of the Minnesota Watercolor Society from 2004-2006, was elected a signature member of the prestigious Plein Air Painters of America (PAPA) in 2012 and is now serving as their president.  He remains the only watercolorist invited to exhibit in the annual ‘Wild Side’ Exhibition, a show of works done on Catalina Island by some of the top landscape painters in the country.  His paintings have won numerous awards, including the Bronze Medal of Honor at the 2012 American Watercolor Society Exhibition, the High Winds Medal at the 2015 AWS Exhibition, and the Painters Award in the Northwest Watercolor Society’s 2012 Waterworks Exhibition. 

Supply list:

-Paper; please bring a 9x12 pad of watercolor paper (Kiliminjaro from Cheap Joe’s works well) for value studies as well as good quality paper, half and quarter sheet size, for paintings. I use Arches and Kiliminjaro cold press and Saunders 140 lb. rough.

-Paint; Tubes of paint, not the dried up cakes in pans.

  My palette consists of Neutral Tint, Paynes Gray, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Quinacridone Gold, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Lemon. (*These are suggested colors, you’re welcome to 

use what you have)

-Palette;  must have good size mixing area.  The John Pike palette is wonderful.

-Brushes;  Use what you’re comfortable with, but I typically use a squirrel hair mop brush for big early washes (Silver makes a good variety of Black Velvet round watercolor brushes available from many art supply venues), a size 14 or16 sable for the intermediate washes (Cheap Joe’s Pseudo Sable is a good option), and a smaller size 10 synthetic for detail work.

-No. 2 pencil and kneaded eraser

-Water container 

-Household sponge and a natural sponge

-Paper towels

-Masking tape

-Reference photos. I will have some for the students to use as well, but prefer they

  work off their own.

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