Learn to paint water that looks wet, reflective, and splashy! With a stunning waterfall as your model, paint water as it falls, then splashes around and over the rocky streambed. Techniques will be demonstrated to address the various puzzles with which the artist is faced when painting this stunning, fascinating and challenging subject!
An important concept of this workshop is that the joy of a plein air experience should be accessible to all. The equipment suggested is, therefore, of a minimal nature. Our overriding goal is to enjoy the experience!
Immersing ourselves into and truly experiencing the landscape through “light” plein air, i.e. sketching, watercolor-sketching using minimal supplies, or simply taking photos. This workshop is dedicated to the idea that the joy of a plein air experience should be accessible to all. With that in mind, the amount of equipment recommended for this workshop is very much on the light and portable side and the demos will be based on this. Nevertheless, the amount of equipment you take is your choice. There are lists of suggested supplies available for levels of activity at both ends of the spectrum.
You will be encouraged to find several scenes you would like to spend more time with later, in the studio, and doing simple studies for that purpose. Naturally, if you should decide to stay with one composition and develop it further, the choice is yours. There will be lessons that lead you through a process of simplifying the scene and the painting process.
Indoor studio sessions will use material gathered during plein air excursions by using reference photos. Other things covered will be basic anatomy of a waterfall, painting rocks that look solid and heard, keeping the painting process manageable, watercolor methods and techniques that apply to the subject matter, negative painting, and creative use of colors.
There will be demos, instruction at all levels, critique and lots of painting time. Class time will be structured, yet open enough to accommodate the artistic spirit within us all. All levels are welcome and encouraged to attend. The only prerequisite is an attitude of joy in the act of painting!
About Julie Gilbert Pollard
Phoenix artist, Julie Gilbert Pollard, paints in oil and watercolor in a fluid, painterly manner. Her painting style, while representational, is colored with her own personal concept of reality. “The eye may see as a camera ‘sees’, but the mind’s eye sees an altered, imagined image, what it wants and hopes to see. It’s that illusive image, uniquely mine, that I try to express in my paintings. This amazing world of ours is often a mysterious, sometimes frightening, place, but filled with scenes and subjects that excite my eye and imagination! The magical allure of the natural world, and my reverence for it, compel me to attempt to capture its essence on canvas or paper.”
Enjoying an extensive career in art, Pollard is the author of three North Light Books: Discover Oil Painting (2016), Watercolor Unleashed (2013) and Brilliant Color (oil & acrylic, 2009), plus nine videos for ArtistsNetwork.com (three Watercolor Unleashed, four Oil Painting Unleashed and two Acrylic Unleashed). Additional publications include various articles and book inclusions including Splash 23 (June 2022), The Art of Watercolour Magazine, Issue 36 (2019), Watercolor Artist Magazine (2021, 2018 & 2013), Splash 18 (2017), Acrylic Works 3 (2016) and Art Journey America Landscapes (2012).
She has given instruction in watercolor and oil since 1985 in numerous venues such as Art Travel Italy in Tuscany, La Romita School of Art in Umbria, Italy; Cheap Joe’s Art Workshops in North Carolina; Saanich Peninsula Arts and Crafts Society in Sidney, B.C., Canada; and Vale do Lobo in Portugal. Current/2022 venues include online and in-person with, among others, Watercolor Live 2022, Scottsdale Artists’ School, Sedona Art Center School of Art, and French Escapade V.I.E.W. (online) Painting Workshops. Madeline Island School of Art in Wisconsin will be hosting her 5-day Plein Air to Studio workshop in July, 2023. And, Hudson River Valley Art Workshops, in upstate New York, recently scheduled Julie for a 3-day workshop, in July 2024.
A frequent award winner, Pollard’s oils and watercolors have hung in numerous juried and gallery exhibits. Most notable awards: Best Impressionistic Painting in Best of America, National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society, 2012 and Best Use of Light & Color in Best of America, National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society, 2011.
Pollard holds four signature memberships: National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society, Arizona Watercolor Association, San Diego Watercolor Society and Plein Air Painters of Arizona. Her work is included in many private and corporate collections and is represented in Arizona by Esprit Decor Gallery in Phoenix, Raku Gallery in Jerome and Sedona Arts Center Gallery in Sedona.
Rates & Enrollment
Day Student Tuition: $645.00
Full 3-Day Package*: $1,714.20-$1,856.76
*3-Day Workshop Package includes: Tuition for 3 full class days, 4 nights of dinner, lodging, breakfast, daily cookie and fruit breaks, unlimited coffee and tea, and welcoming wine and cheese reception. Your choice between a room to yourself (single occupancy) or bring a friend and split a room (double occupancy).
Get more information about your options to enroll here.