Plein Air Watercolor: Preparing and Doing (in person)

Plein Air Watercolor: Preparing and Doing (in person)

In-Person: Adult | This program is completed

20 Academy Street Arlington, MA 02476 United States

Main Classroom

All skill levels

4/4/2024-5/2/2024

View Schedule

153.00 USD

Member Discount Available

Enjoy the change of seasons and the beautiful outdoors in this plein air watercolor class. Plein air is the act of painting outdoors. Demystify the process of painting outside. Each class, we will break down this process. From what the practice is to what you need, supplies and considerations, to actually getting into the field to paint as a class!

With Artist Maryann Hondo

  • Important: Facilities Update for Spring 2024 Programs

    Due to facility improvement projects being conducted by the Town, ACA has been notified that our building’s elevator will be out of commission for 6 weeks this spring, beginning in mid-April. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have concerns about traveling the three flights of stairs to our space on the 3rd floor, please let us know via email (info@acarts.org) or phone: (781) 648-6220. 
    Email Communication Policy
    Please note that ACA will use the email address, which you provided at registration, as our primary means of communicating with you. In registering for an ACA program, you acknowledge that ACA has permission to email you with important updates, as well as information about upcoming events, programs and exhibition opportunities. Requests to be removed from our email mailing list must be sent to info@acarts.org. 

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    Upon registering, you will receive an automatic confirmation of your subscription from the number (781) 429-0398. Please save this number as “ACA” or “Arlington Center for the Arts” for future reference. Please note that this is a non-responsive line. To receive live assistance from an ACA staff member, please contact info@acarts.org or (781) 648-6220.
  • Students should bring the following:

    Plein Air is very personal and very dynamic.  Being outside you are subject to the weather and therefore must become comfortable with your media and choose what works best for you.  Here are some general guidelines for watercolor painting materials to experiment with.  In class we will discuss and prepare for painting "en plein air".  In general you need to be comfortable...some people will chose to stand with an easel setup flat, others may bring a small stool or chose to find a place to sit:

    Paint:   
    • Tube vs Pan:
      • Pan color is intended to be frequently rewet. The primary limitation is the size of the pans. Winsor Newton is the best. In the US you can only get ‘half pans” there are 2 grades, Artists and Cotman, both are excellent. 
      • Tube color has a different makeup and can be rewetted a few times but will harden.
    • Color:
      • Transparent – non-staining pigment – can be “lifted”
        • Aurolin Yellow
        • Cobalt blue
        • rose madder
        • Viridian Green
        • Burnt Sienna
      • Opaque Pigments 
    • Indian Red
    • Cerulean Blue
    • Cadmium Orange, Red, Scarlet
    • French Ultramarine
    • Staining Pigments – will stain paper achieves deep, intense darks
      • Windsor Red
      • Windsor Yellow
      • Alizarin Crimson
      • Windsor Green
      • Hookers Green Dark

    Brush

    • Four styles of brush
      • Brights are flat relatively short bristled, their stiffness enables movement of a lot of paint quickly
      • Flats are similar to brights but have longer bristles that give them greater flexibility
      • Rounds are round bodied brushes with pointed tips.  The smaller sizes are useful for linear detail.
      • Filberts are thick bodied flats with an elliptical end that leaves a more rounded stroke.
    Paper
    • Hot pressed – smooth 
      • Has a hard smooth surface suitable for drawing. Some consider this too smooth for pure watercolor.
    • Cold pressed—has “tooth” which holds the paint
      • This has a textured semi-rough surface good for large smooth washes and fine brush detailing --- the most popular paper of the 3
    • Rough – definite “tooth”, 
      • gives a speckled effect as the pigment settles into the paper.