Interested in learning or improving your watercolor skills? All materials and techniques will be discussed, including the selection of papers, brushes, and pigments, as well as transparent and opaque painting methods. Students will work from still-life, and/or their own source material. All levels welcome.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: James Toogood
Cost: $225
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Paloma Martinez bases her artistic practice on color theory, and is excited to share her passion for it. This workshop explores color and its theory through drawing and a detailed lecture. Students will learn how to use color to manipulate drawing composition, create harmony, and to contextualize their desired aesthetic and conceptual framework. Students will be provided an array of materials to deepen their understanding of color (i.e. pastels, color pencils, color cut-outs, watercolors) and will also obtain guidance on how to use these materials.
 
Location: Key West, Florida
Instructor: Paloma Martinez
Cost: $75 / $60 for members
Sponsor: The Studios of Key West
Website, email, (305) 296-0458

If you want to improve your painting skills, you need to get outside and paint! Learning to paint on-location is not only fun and exciting, but can help you with your studio work. In addition, painting in beautiful Santa Fe will provide a deeper more meaningful experience. During this workshop, Brienne will demonstrate and explain her painting process for plein air painting, sharing some great exercises and practices. If you are new to plein air painting, it can be scary and hard to know where to start, know what to paint, and how to deal with the elements. Don’t worry! Brienne will teach and guide you through the process of painting with watercolors on-location. Her enthusiasm about watercolor and plein air is infectious.
 
Location: Santa Fe & Ghost Ranch, New Mexico
Instructor: Brienne M. Brown
Cost: $1,690
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

Create abstract watercolor paintings using eight different painting techniques. Combine these techniques and multiply the fun. Play with bubbles, cups, rubber cement, masking fluid, air, gravity, stamps, and ink to produce a collection of colorful paintings. Then, choose one favorite and crop it to find the most dynamic part. Katie shows how to enlarge the area, make templates, and turn that watercolor creation into a fabulous art quilt. Learn how to choose and place the fabrics, building from the top down, until you have a quilt that looks like a watercolor painting! The best part? No painting experience is needed, so jump in and turn yourself into a painter and art quilter all in one exciting class!
 
Location: Glastonbury, Connecticut
Instructor: Katie Pasquini Masopust
Cost: $975+
Sponsor: Artists Rising Creativity Retreats
Website, email, 860-633-7374

Join Cindy Briggs and Theresa Goesling in Santa Fe and have a creative life experience. You’ll enjoy inspiring locations, daily painting demonstrations, personalized instruction, and encouraging support from Cindy and Theresa. “We show you how to simplify and design your subject, draw confidently, jazz up your colors, paint with serendipity and experiment with new techniques. Create colorful paintings en Plein Air with an emphasis on celebrating your own unique point of view”. Demonstrations will be in watercolor, however, Theresa and Cindy welcome all mediums to this workshop and will be able to assist you with critiques.
 
Location: Santa Fe & Ghost Ranch, New Mexico
Instructor: Cindy Briggs & Theresa Goesling
Cost: $1,690
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

Join me for 4 days of sketching with watercolor in beautiful Santa Fe. We’ll enjoy the free-flowing and colorful nature of watercolor at its best while sketching and having fun! I’ll help you develop observation skills, color awareness, simple design principles and learn about light and shadows. We’ll investigate various techniques, sketching tools, and approaches to watercolor. Enjoy time with fellow artists, instruction and friendly critiques. Space is very limited (max 15 participants).
 
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Instructor: Brenda Swenson
Cost: $1,690
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

You probably fell in love with making art before a painting holiday occurred to you. Classroom lessons, online sessions, or time in the studio are typically safe environments in which to learn. But once we venture outdoors to paint, the light can be dramatic, the air is filled with sights, sounds, and smells of nature. While this can all be new, it enriches the painting experience even more. When we arrive in Santa Fe, my job is to help you capture the nuances of our surroundings with confidence. Even before departure I’ll provide practical pointers on what to bring, what to leave behind. You’ll discover when we’re together that my plein-air workshops are jam-packed with helpful tips. Join us!
 
Location: Santa Fe & Ghost Ranch, New Mexico
Instructor: Randy Hale
Cost: $1,690
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

Create keepsake journals with beautiful, handmade pages and covers in this engaging retreat. These all-inclusive 3 day retreats feature intimate group instruction (max 8 participants), serene Flint Hills setting, balanced schedule with instruction, work time, family style meals, free time and social gathering. Lessons will include cyanotype printing, block carving and printing, paper marbling, botanical printing, collage, collating and composition, and Coptic bookbinding.
 
Location: Manhattan, Kansas
Instructor: Hollie Blakeney
Cost: $595.00
Sponsor: Flint Hills Arts & Happiness
Website, email, 785-840-7940

Join me for 4 days of sketching with watercolor in beautiful Santa Fe. We’ll enjoy the free-flowing and colorful nature of watercolor at its best while sketching and having fun! I’ll help you develop observation skills, color awareness, simple design principles and learn about light and shadows. We’ll investigate various techniques, sketching tools, and approaches to watercolor. Enjoy time with fellow artists, instruction and friendly critiques. Space is very limited (max 15 participants).
 
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Instructor: Brenda Swenson
Cost: $1,690
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

Enrich your knowledge of painting with an in-depth look at watercolor. Thoroughly investigate a wide range of watercolor materials and techniques from your choice of landscape, still life, portrait, and figure subjects. Open to watercolorists of all levels and to acrylic/oil painters looking to broaden their skills.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: James Toogood
Cost: $675
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Join Debi as she walks you through dry and wet media and the joy that comes when those media come together! If you're looking to add some wow factors to your own body of work, taking it to that next level, or, if you want to learn a few new techniques, this is the perfect class for you! In addition to the registration fee, students should bring $10 cash to pay the instructor for the materials that you'll need, which she will provide for you. This workshop is appropriate for all levels of students.
 
Location: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Instructor: Debi West
Cost: $40
Sponsor: Art League of Hilton Head
Website, email, (843) 842-5738

Gouache (opaque watercolor paint) is the perfect medium for landscape painting in the open air! Painters of all levels will fall in love with it as a portable, fast-drying, and easy-to-clean-up alternative to oils. Explore gouache’s subtle but vibrant color and versatile application methods as you portray the beauty of Philadelphia’s parks in your own personal style. Learn techniques for choosing a composition, mixing color, and working efficiently outdoors as you complete a series of rapid sketches and at least one sustained painting. Open to all levels. Painting locations featuring shade, restrooms, and other amenities may include Wissahickon Park in Mt. Airy, Washington Square Park near Independence Hall, and Bartram's Garden in Southwest Philadelphia. Students are responsible for their own transportation.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Michelle Oosterbaan
Cost: $325
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Watercolor paintings can be so much more than a checklist of watercolor techniques. David goes beyond paint application basics and shows how to construct strong, vibrant, personality-filled paintings. David firmly believes that planning does not destroy creativity, but creates opportunity. Daily one-on-one critiques and demos will be vital to helping you find your watercolor voice.
 
Location: Glastonbury, Connecticut
Instructor: David Daniels
Cost: $975+
Sponsor: Artists Rising Creativity Retreats
Website, email, 860-633-7374

Paint with the medium of your choice, (Oil, Watercolor, Acrylic, Pastel, Charcoal, Colored Pencil), in a relaxed atmosphere with as much instructor help as you want. Bring in new or unfinished work. Short demos, techniques, and critiques will be available to assist you. Realism, impressionism, or something more modern is all welcome. This class is appropriate for beginner painters, intermediate painters and advanced painters of any medium. The main purpose of this course is one-on-one assistance from the instructor with whatever you need help with (fixing, composition, specific subjects, etc.).
 
Location: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Instructor: Dennis Lake
Cost: $200 or $50 per week
Sponsor: Art League of Hilton Head
Website, email, (843) 842-5738

Through plein air painting, discover what moves you most and how to make your mark based on the adventure of seeing, guided by a popular instructor, New York/Key West artist Susan Sugar. Each evening begins with a group critique with the goal of becoming comfortable sharing your process with other painters. After the group critique, students disperse to paint on their own while Susan circulates from person to person, offering individual counsel, as needed. The workshop culminates with a final critique and potluck at Sugar’s home/studio Turtle House and an exhibition of student work hosted by The Studios of Key West at a later date.
 
Location: Key West, Florida
Instructor: Susan Sugar
Cost: $275 / $225 for members
Sponsor: The Studios of Key West
Website, email, (305) 296-0458

Explore flowers and other natural forms, beginning with line and value drawing and progressing to full-color rendering in watercolor and mixed media.  Topics will include sighting techniques, line quality, tone and value, creation of depth, composition, texture, and basic color. All levels welcome. Tuition includes a $15 materials fee for floral subjects, provided. 
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Linda Gist
Cost: $465
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Interested in learning or improving your watercolor skills? All materials and techniques will be discussed, including the selection of papers, brushes, and pigments, as well as transparent and opaque painting methods. Students will work from still-life, and/or their own source material. All levels welcome.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: James Toogood
Cost: $225
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Paint with the medium of your choice, (Oil, Watercolor, Acrylic, Pastel, Charcoal, Colored Pencil), in a relaxed atmosphere with as much instructor help as you want. Bring in new or unfinished work. Short demos, techniques, and critiques will be available to assist you. Realism, impressionism, or something more modern is all welcome. This class is appropriate for beginner painters, intermediate painters and advanced painters of any medium. The main purpose of this course is one-on-one assistance from the instructor with whatever you need help with (fixing, composition, specific subjects, etc.).
 
Location: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Instructor: Dennis Lake
Cost: $200 or $50 per week
Sponsor: Art League of Hilton Head
Website, email, (843) 842-5738

Through plein air painting, discover what moves you most and how to make your mark based on the adventure of seeing, guided by a popular instructor, New York/Key West artist Susan Sugar. Each evening begins with a group critique with the goal of becoming comfortable sharing your process with other painters. After the group critique, students disperse to paint on their own while Susan circulates from person to person, offering individual counsel, as needed. The workshop culminates with a final critique and potluck at Sugar’s home/studio Turtle House and an exhibition of student work hosted by The Studios of Key West at a later date.
 
Location: Key West, Florida
Instructor: Susan Sugar
Cost: $275 / $225 for members
Sponsor: The Studios of Key West
Website, email, (305) 296-0458

Explore both the versatility of watercolor and the exciting possibilities of color through still life painting. Learn to capture form with the freshness and fluidity of all prima techniques. Promote color in your work through instruction on color properties, mixing, and basic theory, as well as how to use hues in combination to create impactful compositions. Discussions and in-depth demonstrations will enforce all content so that students gain the facility and freedom to use color and painting techniques as means of personal expression.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Keith Leitner
Cost: $295
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Enrich your knowledge of painting with an in-depth look at watercolor. Thoroughly investigate a wide range of watercolor materials and techniques from your choice of landscape, still life, portrait, and figure subjects. Open to watercolorists of all levels and to acrylic/oil painters looking to broaden their skills.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: James Toogood
Cost: $675
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Capture the colors of summer en plein air through vibrant watercolor! Become comfortable and confident with the practice of working outdoors at picturesque Lemon Hill, Laurel Hill, and other select locations around the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Fairmount Park. Instruction will cover means of accurately and expressively depicting outdoor sites, watercolor painting techniques, color mixing, and the history and capabilities of water media. All levels welcome. Note: Students are responsible for their own transportation to painting locations.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Keith Leitner
Cost: $295
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

To be a successful artist, it is essential to see things accurately. Enhancing the skills of perception enables the artist to draw or paint anything! For centuries, artists have utilized various aids to seeing. Participants in this workshop have the opportunity to use these aids, allowing for skillful observation and to recreate what they see on paper or canvas. Various ways to measure, make comparisons, define values, see shapes, and identify colors are explored. Regardless of current abilities, completing this workshop significantly transforms the participant’s capacity to view the world as with “new eyes.” With improved powers of perception, they can create artworks of ever-increasing levels of expertise! This workshop was designed for beginner students, intermediate students and advanced students.
 
Location: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Instructor: Robert H. Way
Cost: $400
Sponsor: Art League of Hilton Head
Website, email, (843) 842-5738

This workshop offers a comprehensive exploration of watercolor painting techniques with a focus on loose brushwork. The workshop begins with a dedicated session on value sketching techniques. Participants will gain insights into the importance of preliminary sketches, and understanding the relationships between values and colors before delving into the painting process. One key aspect of the workshop is the exploration of color choices based on Vlad's mixing color theory. Participants will learn to translate the properties of primary colors into nuanced water-color mixes.
 
Location: Boone, North Carolina
Instructor: Vladislav Yeliseyev
Sponsor: Cheap Joe's Art
Website, email, 828-263-5451

Discover the beauty and versatility of watercolor through colorful and thoughtful still life arrangements. Discussions and in-depth demonstrations will acquaint beginners and those with limited experience with basic watercolor painting materials and techniques. A variety of approaches will be explored, and students will be encouraged to engage with the medium to find their own personal means of expression.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Keith Leitner
Cost: $195
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Paint with the medium of your choice, (Oil, Watercolor, Acrylic, Pastel, Charcoal, Colored Pencil), in a relaxed atmosphere with as much instructor help as you want. Bring in new or unfinished work. Short demos, techniques, and critiques will be available to assist you. Realism, impressionism, or something more modern is all welcome. This class is appropriate for beginner painters, intermediate painters and advanced painters of any medium. The main purpose of this course is one-on-one assistance from the instructor with whatever you need help with (fixing, composition, specific subjects, etc.).
 
Location: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Instructor: Dennis Lake
Cost: $200 or $50 per week
Sponsor: Art League of Hilton Head
Website, email, (843) 842-5738

The first day. Students will focus on the fauna, watercolor techniques, positive and negative space, fur, scales, feathers, eyes, claws, paws, texture, and other details of curiosity. Day Two. The focus will be on the flora, some select plants of the region, watercolor techniques, wildflowers, garden blossoms, leaves, shapes, color, texture, light, dark, positive shapes, negative space and other details of the wonder and magic of watercolor. Day Three. Students will bring the plants and animals together. Each artist will create two sketches using the plants and animals of their choice. For more information, visit patbankswatercolors.com.
 
Location: Huntsville, Alabama
Instructor: Pat Banks
Cost: $500 Museum members/ $550 non-members
Sponsor: Huntsville Museum of Art
Website, email, 256-535-6372

Join Vladislav at Landgrove Inn - an authentic 1810 farmhouse in a luxuriant New England landscape. Stay with fellow students and instructor, sharing delicious meals and leisure in this authentic setting. Known as "the soul of Vermont," Landgrove Inn restaurant has become a favorite place for locals and workshops attendees to meet and enjoy one of the special creations by Langrove Inn Chef! This workshop is designed to help participants develop their skills in creating visually compelling artworks. Participants will learn how to use different watercolor techniques to create a range of values, from light to dark, and how to apply these values to create depth, dimension and focal areas in their paintings.
 
Location: Landgrove, Vermont
Instructor: Vladislav Yeliseyev
Cost: $750
Sponsor: Landgrove Inn
Website, email, 800.669.8466

Gouache is a water-based medium that continues to grow in popularity. Watercolor artists will take to it because it mixes with water and oil painters will understand its opaque quality. Our instructor Bernard Dellario uses it in a painterly, intuitive way, Bernie describes his style as “abstract with a foothold in reality.”
 
Location: Marietta, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Bernie Dellario
Cost: $450
Sponsor: Susquehanna Art Workshops
Website, email, 717-314-9551

Special Interest 9 day Plein Air Painting/Sketching Workshop in Grand Canyon National Park *Painting White Water, Side Canyons and Botany * Managing artwork in the wilderness, Setting up quick compositions *Talks on Art History in Grand Canyon *Workshops on sketching, limiting colors and quick composition
 
Location: Grand Canyon, Arizona
Instructor: Ani Eastwood with Grand Canyon Expeditions
Sponsor: Grand Canyon Expeditions Company
Website, email, 1-800-544-2691

You can learn to create wonderfully energized paintings, capturing the light and atmosphere of your subject. Joe's 3-day plein air workshop will fill you with confidence and vision to move you forward.
 
Location: Marietta, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Joe Gyurcsak
Cost: $600
Sponsor: Susquehanna Art Workshops
Website, email, 717-314-9551

Come and express in paint with this dynamic artist from Italy. In order for this workshop to proceed ahead, due to the artist flying from Italy, reservations need to be made before February 29, 2024.
 
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Instructor: Giuliano Boscaini
Cost: $625
Sponsor: Ingrid's Originals Inc. Studio
Website, email, 312-320-0833

In this workshop, our main focus will be on the art of capturing and portraying light. Light plays a vital role in bringing depth, atmosphere, and realism to any artwork. Participants will have the opportunity to explore a range of techniques that can be employed to effectively represent light, including glazing, wet-on-wet, and drybrush techniques.
 
Location: Lowell, Michigan
Instructor: Vladislav Yeliseyev
Sponsor: Franciscan Life Process Center
Website, email, 1-941-330-6865

This intensive 3-day workshop covers all the important elements of painting like composition, value, and color, along with the intricacies of watercolor. Two days in classroom and one day to practice plein air.
 
Location: Marietta, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Yong Hong Zhong
Cost: $500
Sponsor: Susquehanna Art Workshops
Website, email, 717-314-9551

I love painting florals!!! And I work in different techniques and mediums… including watercolor, acrylics, and alcohol inks. At this retreat, I will share all kinds of approaches to capturing the joyous spirit of flowers!!! We will play with drawing, stenciling, collaging and painting my very favorite subject matter… glorious flowers!!! It will be a Flowerpalooza!!! Any skill level is completely welcome!!! From beginner to established. I really enjoy bringing out the creativity in everyone at my retreats. And we will laugh, share and maybe even dance a little?? Being with kindred spirits is pure joy!!!
 
Location: Glastonbury, Connecticut
Instructor: Lori Siebert
Cost: $975+
Sponsor: Artists Rising Creativity Retreats
Website, email, 860-633-7374

The workshop sessions begin as Couch completes a painting, explaining what he is doing, and why, as he paints. Students paint in the afternoons, after which Couch critiques all the day’s completed work, including his own. An optional slide show/lecture on the principles of design – including color and composition – will be presented in the afternoon of the first day. Couch has won over 70 national awards and his work has been included in three annual exhibitions of the National Academy of Design. For more information, visit tonycouch.com.
 
Location: Huntsville, Alabama
Instructor: Tony Couch
Cost: $600 Museum members/ $650 non-members
Sponsor: Huntsville Museum of Art
Website, email, 256-535-6372

This workshop reveals secrets even the old masters did not know! Participants discover the source of all color, elevating their powers of observation to permit identification of hues hiding in plain sight. With this heightened skill, students are better able to replicate colors seen without the frustration of endless experimentation, memorizing formulas, recipes, and complicated color systems or “happy accidents.” Special focus is placed on assisting the artist to determine the most suitable pigments for producing paintings of quality and unfailing harmony. This workshop was designed for beginner students, intermediate students and advanced students.
 
Location: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Instructor: Robert H. Way
Cost: $400
Sponsor: Art League of Hilton Head
Website, email, (843) 842-5738

Mon-Thurs Oct 21-24, 2024 from 9:30am-3:30pm. $575 Art League of OC Members, $720 Non-Members. There will be a wide variety of watercolor techniques that will be discussed and demonstrated including positive and negative painting, composition, using creative colors, glazing, charging color, and many more. Students will begin each day with a demonstration painting that will be finished before lunch. The daily demonstration will be different each day so that you will see a wide variety of subject matter and styles including landscapes, floral, stylized, and abstract. Edwards preferred method of painting is to use large brushes for most of the painting and complete the painting with a small amount of details towards the end using smaller brushes.
 
Location: Ocean City, Maryland
Instructor: Sterling Edwards
Cost: $575 ALOC Members, $720 Non-Members
Sponsor: Art League of Ocean City
Website, email, 410-524-9433

Join nationally renowned watercolor artist, Alan Shuptrine, for a floral/mist and lace watercolor workshop. Focusing on regional floral landscapes, Alan will teach students how to create a watercolor from dark to light using wet and dry-brush techniques, how to utilize lighting and distance to create your composition and applying detail in the foreground. A painter known for his watercolor technical ability, sensitive and thought-provoking paintings, Shuptrine has extended his reputation from a renowned master craftsman and water gilder to a nationally acclaimed watercolorist. For more information, visit alanshuptrine.com.
 
Location: Huntsville, Alabama
Instructor: Alan Shuptrine
Cost: $400 Museum members/ $450 non-members
Sponsor: Huntsville Museum of Art
Website, email, 256-535-6372

Join me for an unforgettable painting holiday in Santa Fe, a region famous for its stunning scenery and captivating light. During the workshop, all of the logistics will be taken care of by my good friends at French Escapade. All we have to do is relax and enjoy our days spent sketching in this strikingly beautiful part of New Mexico. We’ll have plenty of time to capture once-in-a-lifetime experiences on the pages of our watercolor journals. My teaching will focus on illustrated watercolor journaling. You’ll learn how to add style and interest to your sketchbook pages through the use of unique page layouts and borders, and we’ll cover several fun new lettering styles. I’ll offer daily demonstrations of painting techniques.
 
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Instructor: Leslie Fehling
Cost: $1,690
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713