Middlebury Studio School

The purpose of this workshop is to develop a love and appreciation for fantasy art,  whimsical art and the process of picture making with regard to imaginative subject matter. I will do a demonstration in which I paint a mushroom house  and walk students through the process of how to create a sketch for their own fantastical whimsical forest scene. 

The workshop will begin by going through media and best practices for mixing colors and organizing one’s painting area. From there I will demonstrate how to start a scene by laying in a basic underdrawing of a mushroom house in a forest. We will then work on our pencil lay-ins together as a group. As we finish our pencil drawings, students during this time can experiment with color mixing on practice material provided so as to get a feel for the Gouache paint. Next steps include “inking” our forest drawings by tracing over all shadows and pencil lines in a sepia watercolor. After this prior stage we will then lay in a  wash of watercolor over the whole piece and cover up all of the white areas of the paper.  The last step - the most fun step is applying the Gouache paint! 

The main goal is to have fun creating an imaginary subject while learning what goes into the process of narrative illustration for imaginative subject matter. 

- Modification ** students can “ink” over their pencil underdrawings if they are new to painting or feel overwhelmed or they can omit the mushroom house and opt for a slightly more graphic composition. 

This class will appeal to both watercolorists, as well as people who are curious about Gouache in general. 

 All level/Adult Ages 16+. Materials included.

Please note: When registering for a class online, a credit card payment is required. If you prefer to pay with a check, please contact us at info@middleburystudioschool.org to register.