Alex Hollman

Alex will teach his Saturday classes on February 1st, February 8th, and February 15th, 2.00 to 4.00 PM

$80 per class, all three $220

-Paint faster!

-Paint more!

-Paint looser!

-Paint bolder! 

This class is about learning or relearning watercolor in a way that will help you to conquer fears you may have about the medium.

Emphasis will be on learning how to:

-see shapes and values

-begin a painting with confidence

-mix and use color

-be aware of how much water is needed on paper vs brush

-use all parts of the brush

-paint quickly

-know what can be corrected and how to correct it

Materials needed:

1. Paper

For these classes it is important to use paper that is 

a) 140lb/300gr in weight

b) all cotton (as opposed to cellulose)

c) cold press (as opposed to hot press)

This is the one part of the materials list it is best not to skimp on. All-cotton paper of this weight will help you see what watercolor can do.

In terms of format I recommend larger sizes such as 16X20, 14X20, or 11X20 inches which we will tape into squares for exercises. Smaller formats are fine too. These could be in the form of loose sheets, blocks (my favorite), pads, or books.

My favorite papers are Fabriano cold press cotton 140 lb block and (more expensive) Arches cold press 140lb block. 16x20 inch or 14x20 inch or 11x20 inch cold press 140lb/300gr all-cotton (important!) paper, either in block form or pad or sheet form. 

2. Brushes

1. Any large mop, wash, or quill brush. Chinese soft brushes made from natural animal hair are relatively cheap and generally what I use (see below for link).

2. Any medium-size brush (10,11,12 round), preferably of natural animal hair. Again, Chinese soft brushes are relatively cheap and generally what I use (see below for link). 

3. A smaller brush for detail. Again, I often use a Chinese-style brush (see below for link).

4. A hake brush, of natural animal hair, from 1- to 3- inches in width. Chinese-made brushes are relatively cheap, and you can get a set of three (1-, 2-, 3- inch wide). These are the brushes I use most (see below for link).

Links:

-Set of Chinese brushes with soft, animal hair: https://www.blueheronarts.com/Basic-Five-5-Chinese-Painting-Brushes-for-CBP-p-933.html

Others will do, so long as they are soft (white) and made from animal hair.

-Set of three hake brushes: https://www.amazon.com/Royal-RART-115-Langnickel-Chinese-Brushes/dp/B000H86SUQ?ref_=ast_sto_dp

Others will do, so long as they are soft (white) and made from goat or sheep hair and the length of brush hair is about 1 inch.

3. Paint (in tubes, not pans)

Here are the colors I use, starting with the ones I regard as essential and moving to ones I use if I have space.

Essential:

Ultramarine blue

Cobalt blue

Burnt sienna

Burnt umber

Cadmium red (or cadmium red hue)

Permanent alazarin crimson)

Cadmium yellow medium (or cadmium yellow hue)

Lemon yellow

Less essential (no need to buy at beginning):

Permanent or titanium white gouache 

Cadmium orange

Phthalo blue

Cerulean blue

Carbazole violet

Quinacridone gold

Medium yellow gouache

Light/lemon yellow gouache

Brands: I use Daniel Smith (more expensive) and Van Gogh (cheaper but still good). Other manufacturers will be just fine too (e.g. Graham, Schminke, Windsor and Newton) but avoid the Windsor and Newton Cotman students series which do not have good pigment strength. Better to pay a little more upfront and have something that will last longer. Buy 15ml or 10ml tubes: don’t be afraid to squeeze out a lot of paint. 5ml tubes are not economical.

For the gouache paints I use and recommend Holbein. 

4. Palette

Use anything that will give a large brush access to the paint and that has relatively large areas for mixing paint. This could be a white china dinner plate, or conventional palettes made of plastic, metal, or porcelain.

Links:

-Example of plastic palette:

https://www.amazon.com/PRO-ART-Folding-Palette-6956-10/dp/B0027A5HB8?ref_=ast_sto_dp

-Example of metal palette: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A37QI9G/ref=ewc_pr_img_1?smid=A3HOWW9I8SYOB&psc=1

5. Container for water

Use anything that will give a large brush access and contain about 16oz or 500ml of water. 

6. Roll of ¾ or 1 inch wide tan-colored masking or painting tape or Magic tape. We’ll use this for taping off areas on larger pieces of paper.

7. Towels

Paper towels if you like but I find it more convenient to use a cotton hand towel. Saves trees too! 

8. Pencil (preferably 2B) and notebook for thumbnail value sketches.

To register please visit the gallery's Art Classes Page.