“Expressive Flowers & faces inspired by the masters”

- Class lessons based on sketchbook Foundations of watercolor….and beyond!-

Begins: Tuesday -May 6- June 10 , 2025

don’t miss out on this class!

-Whether starting your watercolor journey or stretching and solidifying those skills-

including drawing, paint handling, color mixtures, composition and more!

using selected masterworks to inspire us!

- The next studio series runs Tuesdays,

6 weeks on zoom!

My current students & I love the “zoom Room”-

I do hope you’ll join us!

(If you already know you want to sign up, scroll to the bottom of this for registration!)

(and no problem if you’re working during these hours, or something unexpected comes up - these classes are recorded so you won’t miss a thing! We also have a private Facebook group to share our work in, find encouragement from your classmates, and receive feedback from me!).

I’d love for you to join us - Tuesday mornings

(scroll to the bottom if you already know you want to register!)

This series is for YOU, whether an ambitious beginner OR an experienced painter looking to increase and solidify YOUR skills and gain new ideas - and discover how to bring out YOUR own unique style!

Each week, we’ll be studying a masterwork from one of my many favorite artists….we’ll include works from: Willard Metcalf, Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, Gustave Klimt, Childe Hassam, and John Asaro. I’m so excited to do a bit of a deep dive exploration of these six artists - and I think you’ll find them inspiring, too!!

When it comes to growing our own expressiveness, it’s always great to ‘study your history’ (and yes, one of these is a living artist whose work continues to inspire me).

Here’s what you’ll learn:

A painting isn’t good because it looks like something. It’s good because it FEELS like something! How do you get beyond ‘copying a photo’ and learning to interpret your references…and bring out your own ‘style’. How does one ‘find that uniqueness of self’? And most of all - what have these artists done that I can apply in my own work going forward?! (This is where things get SUPER exciting!!).

-Each week we’ll study one or more paintings from these six artists to help you find those things that excite the uniqueness of YOU! You’ll learn to put together ideas that are fun and exciting….and ‘make sense’. You’ll learn methods of practice to grow your skills in these areas.

You’ll be exploring:

-a quick review on the watercolor medium itself (water to pigment ratios - I can’t stress this enough!!)

-basic drawing skills (and some refreshers to elevate and strengthen your skills), along with some options to ‘simplify’ your choices.

- ‘liberated’ brushwork

-composition, expressive movement, big shapes, interpreting various media into watercolor

-the use of ink line in watercolor, simplifying a scene, storytelling

-draw and paint what’s accessible to you, strong shapes and contrast, value & weight of color (and it’s use in composition), placement of horizon lines in a landscape (high vs. low).

-all the things we can garner from these masterworks - we’ll practice in various ways - ‘direct master copies’ for practice, interpreting old works in new (and amusing) ways, taking their image and applying it to our own photo references (making that leap of further interpretation) to find your ‘own truth’.

“Expressive flowers and faces, inspired by the masters” - it’s for you if:

-you’re wanting to expand watercolor skills and are ready to take on a fun challenge (yes, you CAN do this - even as an ambitious beginner!).

-you’re an intermediate painter or experienced painter but are looking to grow your confidence and skills with new techniques and ideas and solidify and strengthen the things you already know. You’re trying to ‘find your own way’ and become more expressive in your ideas and painting techniques.

-you’re an experienced painter in another medium, and want to ‘lighten your load’ and get comfortable with watercolor!

-you want to increase your capacity to make imaginative paintings the inspire and excite you (and others).

- you want to be confident in the decision making process in this watercolor medium.

-you want to get comfortable with the ‘flow and escapism’ (those ‘scary parts’ of watercolor…which turn out to be the absolute most fun parts ever!)

-you want to move the level of your work to ‘confident, and not tentative’.

-you want to learn to incorporate other mediums into watercolor.

-you want to begin a daily practice of painting, so that this becomes ‘like breathing’ and ‘not so scary’ a thing to do.

-you are not afraid of ‘embracing the wonky’ as you grow your skills!!

-you want to learn how to make beautiful textures in watercolor and incorporate these into your paintings.

-you want to expand your color knowledge and make smart choices when ‘editing your palette’.

-you want to feel comfortable in knowing the colors you mix won’t turn into a muddy, murky mess.

-you’re fascinated by the abstract shapes that can strengthen your landscape paintings.

-you want to build your confidence AND have fun!

-you want to understand basic color mixing, basic qualities of your paint (opaque vs. transparent), when to go beyond the ‘basic palette’ of colors.

-you are willing to leave perfectionism at the door, treat yourself kindly, and have fun while gaining new skills and strengthening ones you already have!

-you are willing to keep an open mind, look for and praise the positives in your work, and be willing to try things you think are beyond your capability….in other words, trust the process! (A large part of growing your painting skills is mindset- something I share every class session).

this class is not for you if:

-you don’t have a sense of adventure & fun.

-you are looking for a highly refined degree of finish. (yet these basics certainly build toward that end).

****

**The course is mostly sketchbook work, and also loose watercolor paper. I’ll be working on hot-press paper and some cold press paper for this course. You may use either but if you’re a newer painter, I’d suggest using cold press paper.

**Some subjects we’ll be stretching a bit into the whimsical.

**We WILL be practicing brushwork exercises to work boldly and confidently.

**We will also focus on techniques to improve our drawing and composition skills.

- Here’s the scope of this course:

The list below covers some of the scope of this course:

• While our classes are inside in front of the computer, and using photo references, we’ll also address working from life, how to get comfortable with doing that, and the benefits of drawing from real life vs. photos.

• How to grow your confidence in painting & sketching from life.

• YES - this class IS indeed for brand new beginners and beyond - to build your confidence. If you’re not sure of your skill level, contact me, and lets talk about it! Or - if you’ve been painting for a while - let me know your concerns about the directions you’d like to grow in.

• How to ‘think like a painter’.

• Learning to ALLOW watercolor to do what it does best- flow on the paper. Keeping that fluid look and not getting ‘stiff and crusty’.

• We start by talking about ‘basic shapes’ - what is the form of that object, how it is affected by light, and what does it look like from various angles?

• Learning to see BIG SHAPES first, details last!

• Editing information, what to put in, what to leave out! SQUINTING IS KEY!!

• Loose brushwork exercises - using your tools to their best advantage - and understanding that tactile sense of the paint and what it can do.

• How to show atmospheric perspective through color, softness vs. hardness of edges, and placement of elements.

• Color harmony.

• Brushes- how to get the most from them, brush techniques to get the most from your tools & the most expressive paintings from your hand to the paper!
  
  

Class times and dates below

Contact me if you're unsure if this is for you.  Come join either Tuesday morning or evening! Contact me to reserve your spot! 

supplies: https://www.roxannesteed.com/blog/2025/1/7/supply-list-for-2025-classes

You may use what you have and purchase online or locally anything that you are lacking. Some supplies will be marked as ‘optional’.

I’d love for you to join us on Tuesday mornings

9:30am - 12:00pm

$150 for 6 weeks

Dates: “Expressive Faces and Flowers, Inspired by the Masters” - - current session, 2025

I LOVE seeing the progress that every one makes in my classes. I created this curriculum seven years ago - and continue to update it, and it really works. I’m so excited to keep you going on YOUR creative journey, and nurture YOU along your way!