Contemporary Watercolour Painting

Ignite your understanding and enjoyment of watercolour drawing and painting by learning traditional methods and contemporary mark-making techniques. Learn to paint the colours of changing light and capture its beauty with transparent watercolour painting methods, both in the studio and at outdoor locations. Tanya Baily teaches to a structured program, guiding beginners with clear instructions and demonstrations, and offering critiques and challenges for more experienced watercolourists. As well as landscape, subject matter may include still life and the portrait. Tanya teaches with reference to a variety of watercolour artists, both contemporary and traditional, to broaden your knowledge and deepen your adventures into the magical world of watercolours. She works exclusively in watercolour across a range of subject matter, and her passion is with the medium itself. She continually experiments with techniques old and new, as well as different pigments, papers and surfaces.

The week begins with a series of visual exercises to loosen up and learn a range of watercolour techniques and mark-making; paying attention to bleeding and blending using water, and the best ways to use different brushes and papers. Tanya demonstrates how to mix and apply colours, taking advantage of the unique transparency of watercolour washes. She also spends time in one-on-one tutorials. You’ll study compositions and sketching from life, with reference to watercolour artists past and present, and investigate the many approaches and styles of watercolour painting, from representative, expressive and abstract art. Students will choose subject matter of their own to paint, or an area of study to pursue, and will be encouraged to be imaginative and experimental, and to pursue their own styles, completing the week with a finished painting or body of work.

Tanya encourages you to work as much as possible from life, including still-lives in the studio or outdoors on the beautiful, historic NAS campus. The course is suitable for beginners, as it’s a comprehensive introduction to the world of watercolours and is also great for those more experienced artists wanting to develop their skills and knowledge and continue with existing projects.

*NAS Short Courses are open to students of ages 16 years and over. The NAS Art Club is open to students from ages 15 years and over.

*Drawing and painting short courses may
be held in upstairs studios. If access to stairs is not suitable, please contact NAS Short Courses Administration at short.courses@nas.edu.au

Tanya Baily is a multi-award-winning artist specialising in watercolour painting. She exhibits in Australia and internationally and takes commissions from her studio in Sydney. She is a member of the Australian Watercolour Institute and has won the Rex Irwin Prize (2011) and the National Watercolour Prize (2019). She is a frequent finalist in major national art prizes. Tanya was educated at Oxford University, London’s Chelsea School of Art and COFA at the University of NSW, where she completed a Masters in Painting. Tanya is an experienced art educator and teaches classes and workshops in watercolour painting at a number of institutions and art schools.

Basic materials

• Good quantity of high-quality watercolour paper, approx. A4 size or A3 size preferable – Arches 300gsm loose sheets divided up yourself is the ideal paper
• Watercolour pan palette(s)
• 2 clean jars or containers
• Soft pencil, eraser, ruler, masking tape
• Sketchbook or paper for drawing up composition plans
• Box of tissues

Watercolour paints

Buy quality paints such as Winsor & Newton, Art Spectrum, Daniel Smith, Schmincke or Old Holland. Below is a basic palette idea (with a cool and warm of each primary colour):

• Raw sienna
• Lemon yellow
• Windsor red (or cadmium)
• Alizarin crimson
• Prussian blue
• Ultramarine blue.

Brushes

• Soft-haired watercolour brushes, for example number 8, 10, 12 e.g. Roymac revolution taklon round 10 or 8 / Artworks squirrel 2 or
  1 soft-haired watercolour brush 1inch wash brush (flat) - for laying down washes e.g. Francheville Ox
• Hair 5/8 Wash brush or Neef 3/4 camel hair wash/mop brush.

Note: These brands are example brushes however you can also bring any other watercolour brushes you have.

Optional extra materials (not for the first class)

• Masking fluid
• Inks and ink pen
• Watercolour sponge
• Loose sheets of thick cartridge paper for ink drawings
• Larger brushes

Enclosed shoes are essential