Online Class: Getting Started with Watercolor Practice

Join us to get your watercolor practice off to a good start. In this class, participants will receive in-depth guidance about tools, techniques, paper choice, brush care, and what to look for when selecting paint tubes and palettes. Using Georgia O’Keeffe’s watercolors as examples, instructor Sudeshna Sengupta will also use interactive demonstrations to teach participants about handling the medium of transparent watercolor, breaking down the steps needed to acquire and sharpen watercolor skills.

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This class is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. Children are welcome to participate alongside their adults.

Space is limited, reservations required.

This program will take place via the video conferencing app – ZOOM. Details for accessing the Zoom meeting will be with your receipt upon registering and again sent via email the day prior. Please register in advance in order to access the program. Note that all program times are in Mountain Time.

Online classes are not recorded. Online classes are offered only as a live and interactive experience.

Supplies needed for this class: 

– A set of watercolor paints — individual tubes recommended, but pans work as well. No need for white or black paints. Recommended: tubes in these or similar colors: 1. Hansa Yellow, 2. Quinacridone Gold, 3. Cadmium Orange Hue or Vermillion, 4. Carmine, 5. Quinacridone Rose, Permanent Rose, Opera or Opera Rose, 6. Purple/Violet, 7. Ultramarine Blue, 8. Pthalo Blue, 9. Viridian, 10. Sap Green, 11. Leaf Green, 12. Burnt Sienna. (Recommended brands: Van Gogh, Grumbacher Academy, or W & N Cotman among learner grade and Holbein, M. Graham, Daniel Smith, or Winsor & Newton among professional grade watercolor paints).

– A 12 well circular palette with a larger center to mix paints. Jones Travel Palette works well.

– Watercolor block (preferred) or pad (tape-bound, not spiral-bound) of Strathmore 400 series (not 300 series), Canson, Fluid, or any other brand with acid-free sheets in Cold-Press finish that are between 9” x 12” and 12” x 16” in size and at least 10 lbs (300 gsm) in weight.

– A regular 2 pencil (a.k.a. HB) and an eraser

– Round and Flat Watercolor brushes (synthetic ‘Taklon’ brushes are fine): 4 to 5 Round brushes in the range of Size 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and a 1 Flat brush that’s 1⁄2” to 1.5” wide.

– Q-tips and paper towel or pieces of cotton rag. Cut-up pieces from a clean, used t-shirt work well.

– Masking tape if a watercolor pad is used instead of a watercolor block.

– 2 to 3 empty glass jars or containers for holding water. Used yogurt containers or wide-mouth smaller glass jars work well.

– Toothpicks and or a blunt plastic tool such as a disposable plastic knife.

– Optional: Hair dryer if available, a white wax crayon or a small piece of candle for optional resist techniques, watercolor pencils for additional details.

Note – These items should be available locally or online from Amazon in the U.S and in Europe. They can also be purchased as individual items or as a set for Sudeshna Sengupta’s class list (U.S. domestic shipping only).

About the Instructor

Sudeshna Sengupta’s career as a teaching artist spans multiple decades, continents, and cultures that inform her pedagogy for decolonizing studio art. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree in 1985 from Visva-Bharati, an international university founded in India, by the humanist poet Tagore, the first non-European Nobel Laureate (1913). After teaching art and design at the college level in New Delhi, Seattle, and California, she taught at NMSU-Alamogordo, where she established its first intaglio printmaking studio in 1995. Since moving to Santa Fe, she has been teaching credit courses in online studio art at the Santa Fe Community College. She also conducts workshops and short courses and presents lectures and community-based art events for various age groups with civic, cultural, and community organizations in the US and in India, often with a focus on multicultural and inter-cultural experiences that emphasize human, cultural, and environmental connectedness through creativity. To see her art please visit:  notes-and-doodles.com 

This class is being offered on a sliding scale.

$10; minimal fee.

$20; covers the cost of the class.

$30; covers the cost of the class, plus a contribution to support educational programs.