WATERCOLORS
Instructor - Sue Archer - AWS, NWS, TWSA, FWS
Sue is a studio and plein air artist, national workshop instructor and national juror and judge for watercolor exhibitions. She showed her work in Art Festivals in Florida from 1985 -2014 and still shows her work in national watercolor exhibitions. Since Sue began exhibiting her work in 1985, she has won over 200 state and national awards, has received a Florida State Individual Artist Fellowship grant for painting, and has a DVD “Commanding Color”.
For 25 years Sue had painted large still lifes showing strong light and with textural interest. Now she is doing abstracted-textural work, close-up or mid-distant landscapes, some figurative works, and drawings in-studio and plein air. Painting the effect of light on her subjects and creating texture are still a passion of hers no matter what the genre.
WATERCOLORS - COMMANDING COLOR PART ONE
"My goal as an instructor is to present you with information about color theory to add to your core of knowledge regardless of your medium. I believe in the power of planning and understanding the basics. The objective here is not to change you, but to take you to another level. Then it is up to you to take this knowledge and apply it to the medium, genre, style, and subject matter that suits you." - Sue Archer
This workshop is designed to inspire your creativity by learning to "SEE" and "EXPERIENCE" various aspects of color theory and painting light on objects. Color is one of the essential elements of design! This course aims to inspire advanced beginners and provide a review and challenge for advanced painters. Students may work in watercolor mediums or acrylic, but please no oils.
What You'll Learn:
Pigment Quality: Understanding the importance of high-quality pigments.
Hue and Color Value: Exploring different hues and their values.
Color Dominance: Learning the importance of color dominance in composition.
Intensity and Temperature: Exploring color intensity and temperature.
White as a Color: Considering white paper as a color.
Color Wheel: Using the color wheel effectively.
Achieving Colorful Darks: Techniques to achieve rich, colorful darks.
Workshop Activities:
Demonstrations
Lectures
Color and Design Projects
Ongoing Critiques
Student Requirements:
Bring plenty of your own personal resource material (drawings or photos you took yourself). Include photos of single, interesting objects in strong light (e.g., a pear, a tree, a person, a bird, a white house showing the lit and shadow sides).
Ensure your reference material is well-lit, ideally with direct light from the side. This will create a shadow side with 2-3 darker values.
Turn off your flash for better lighting in your photos.
Bring printed photos (approximately 8x10) for easier information gathering and editing. Note: We will also use these photos in Commanding Color Part 2
Finished paintings are not the objective; instead, the focus is on understanding the theories behind your color choices. Your days will be filled with demos, lectures, projects, and critiques designed to elevate your artistic skills.
February 8 - 9, 2025 9:00am - 4:00 pm
Supply List
WATERCOLORS - COMMANDING COLOR PART TWO
Supply List
Building on the foundations from Commanding Color Part 1, this workshop will inspire your creativity by teaching you to "SEE", "EXPERIENCE", and apply various aspects of color theory and painting light on objects. This course is designed to inspire advanced beginners and challenge advanced students further. Commanding Color Part 1 is a prerequisite for this workshop unless you have the instructor’s permission. Students may work in watercolor mediums or acrylic, but please no oils.
In this workshop, students will focus on designing their own paintings using the color theory principles learned in Commanding Color Part 1. The objective is to integrate color theory into your compositions, meticulously plan your paintings, and expand your understanding of advanced color concepts.
Your days will be enriched with demonstrations, lectures, color and design projects, and ongoing critiques, all aimed at deepening your artistic skills and knowledge.
What You'll Learn:
Color Theory Application: Applying color theory to your own compositions.
Planning Your Paintings: Using color theories from Part 1 in your planning process.
Advanced Color Concepts: Introducing more advanced color knowledge.
Workshop Activities:
Designing your own paintings using learned color theory.
Studying other artists' paintings to apply theories and concepts.
Demonstrations
Lectures
Color and Design Projects
Ongoing critiques
Key Concepts:
Color is Relative: Understanding the importance of color value in composition.
Color Unity: Achieving color unity in composition.
Color Dominance: Ensuring color dominance in composition.
Atmospheric Perspective: Applying atmospheric perspective in your paintings.
Cast Shadow Hue: Understanding the theory of cast shadow hue.
Intent: Showing strong light on objects.
Student Requirements:
Bring plenty of your own personal resource material (drawings or photos you took yourself). Include photos of single, interesting objects in strong light (e.g., a pear, a tree, a person, a bird, a white house showing the lit and shadow sides).
Ensure your reference material is well-lit, ideally with direct light from the side. This will create a shadow side with 2-3 darker values.
Turn off your flash for better lighting in your photos.
Bring printed photos (approximately 8x10) for easier information gathering and editing.
We will be working on ¼ sheets (approximately 11 x 14) and 5 x 7.