Watercolors  by   Steve Rogers AWS, NWS

                                 Janet Rogers AWS

watercolor workshops, landscape, marine, portrait, and floral paintings

Steve Rogers AWS, NWS –Painting Light and Color in Watercolor

 Description of course activities and objectives:

I hope my workshop will afford students at various levels of ability an opportunity to advance. My painting is grounded in realism but it goes beyond portraying the physical reality and seeks to communicate the emotional and spiritual beauty of God’s creation. Students who are seeking to paint a convincing representation will advance substantially in these five days, while those who wish to attain a higher degree of insight into their subjects will also be pleased. I paint and teach in a very straightforward traditional manner because I believe I can most honestly say what I want to without relying on “techniques”. Workshop participants take away from my class knowledge about light and color and the way watercolor behaves. They will gain an understanding of painting upon which to build, instead of acquiring a collection of methods for applying paint.

I try to incorporate design lessons into the topic of each particular day rather than isolating it as a separate topic. I find this more effective for the way I teach and I feel that students are better able to digest these smaller portions of design theory as they present themselves within other lessons.

One day of my workshop is devoted to value, and one day is devoted to color. In both cases I try to make clear how the medium of watercolor with its unique transparency and range of color and value can make our vision of a landscape live on the paper. I also show where various pigments will create beauty and where using the same pigments will bring disaster. I devote one day of my workshops to reflections and the unique problems associated with painting boats and water subjects. This is an area where I am especially qualified and in many cases students have not been exposed to some of the concepts. If time permits I also cover the use of photography as both a way of gathering source material and also how to best photograph paintings for slide juries and other purposes.

I have indicated a description of daily activities, but I want my workshop to be responsive as much as possible to individual needs. I will paint mini-demos to illustrate certain principles and also work on some paintings during each day. Students gain a better understanding of how I work if they see me paint a sky or water or light falling on a building and then have the opportunity to work on their own painting. At this time I will circulate among the class and be available for advice or questions. I find this back and forth approach works better than a “morning demo”. I will hold a critique toward the end of the workshop for those who wish to participate, but only with the understanding that we do not paint safe paintings with that in mind. We must strive to learn from a class and making mistakes is an important part of the process. I am always available for private evaluations throughout the course of the workshop.

The goal of my workshop is to encourage each artist to advance his or her own vision and to improve the skills necessary to communicate that in watercolor. I also really enjoy teaching watercolor and both my students and I have a lot of fun during the workshop.

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Copyright © 2003 Rogers Art All paintings and photographs
Last modified: October 30, 2007