Water, gesture & suggestion - Led by Annika Cameron

Sundays 1:00–3:00pm | Oct 11, 18, 25 & Nov 1 | $175

Watercolor has a reputation for being unforgiving. This course starts from the opposite idea: the water is your collaborator. Pigment moves, blooms, settles, and sometimes does something better than what you planned. Over four weeks, you'll learn enough control to make intentional choices — and enough trust to let the medium participate in the painting.

"Loose" doesn't mean splashy or unfinished. It means selective: knowing what needs to be described, what can be suggested, where an edge should disappear, and when one more brushstroke would add less than it takes away. You'll paint landscapes by reducing a scene to a few large shapes instead of a thousand leaves, and florals through gesture and brush rhythm instead of outlining every petal.

The four weeks: Week 1, let the water move — moisture, timing, edges, and a first small atmospheric landscape. Week 2, paint the shape, not the tree — reducing a landscape to big value masses that read from across the room. Week 3, gesture before petals — loose florals painted from fresh flowers, brush-first. Week 4, loose on purpose — a larger independent watercolor, landscape or floral, your choice, ending with a relaxed group look at everyone's work.

You'll take home: a technique sampler, a small atmospheric landscape, a resolved loose landscape, floral studies and a finished floral painting, and a larger independent watercolor — plus a clear sense of what to keep practicing.

Good to know: No watercolor experience needed — the class works for total beginners and for painters who tend to overwork and want a looser, more confident approach. Everyone follows the same demonstrations; you choose how much complexity to take on. All materials included, with 100% cotton paper for your final paintings. Limited to 12 participants.

*Photo credit: Daka