Backgrounds and Undergrounds workshop 2, Brisbane, February
February 6-7, 2021
9:30am-4:30pm each day
Botanical Artists' Society Qld
Venue: Seven Hills Hub,
28 Tallowwood St, Seven Hills QLD 4170
On the corner of Tallowwood Street and Griffith Place, turn into Clearview Urban Village, off Clearview Terrace)
This first day will focus on colour and light, with explanations and theory about the different reasons for choosing colours for shadows and tone, and will continue with paintings in the Grisaille method, where just the shadows are painted as a first layer (in colour) and other colours are added on top.
Day 2 will concentrate on painting white flowers with an emphasis on achieving layered backgrounds that harmonize with the chosen colours.
This workshop is for all levels, and offers an opportunity for more traditional or experienced botanical artists to explore new ideas and technical approaches to incorporate in their watercolour toolbox, and a chance for new practitioners to expand their skills and knowledge in understanding colour.
Price: $100 per day for members of BASQ. $130 per day for non-members.
To book, please contact BASQ. More info soon.
Paints –Bring a range of transparent professional quality watercolours in your preferred brand. Include pinks, yellows, blues.
Paper –You will require 300gsm Cold Pressed watercolour paper in Medium or Rough. Experienced watercolourists may prefer Hot Pressed paper instead. My recommendation is to buy a watercolour block as the paper is already stretched. ¼ or ½ sheet size is fine. Quality brands are Arches or Saunders Waterford. Student quality paper just doesn’t work well. Make sure the paper is 100% Cotton.
Brushes - Bring whatever watercolour brushes you already own, but include at least two ‘rounds’ with a sharp point (one small and one larger), plus a larger ‘mop’ brush for backgrounds. There are so many good brushes on the market I won’t specify any particular brand, but just make sure they are designated watercolour brushes.
Palette – The large plastic palettes with lots of wells and a lid are my recommendation. Make sure it has a large enough mixing area.
Board –Larger than your paper and something to prop up under one end for working at an angle.
Other Necessities – Drawing equipment (pencils, eraser, ruler etc, plus pen and paper for taking notes), 1 sheet of graphite transfer paper (not carbon paper), an old towel or hand towel, tissues, 2 plastic containers for water, and masking tape. A medicine dropper or plastic pipette for squirting small amounts of water would also be handy.
I will supply the reference material for this workshop, but you are welcome to bring any favourite copyright free images of flowers. I suggest you also have an A4 photocopy of your chosen image to use for transferring. Alternatively, you are also welcome to bring cut flowers to work from life. Choose white lilies or other flowers without too many petals.