BOTANICALS IN WATERCOLOR A THREE-DAY WORKSHOP WITH CAMILLE DOUCET

August 4, 5, 6, 2006 from 9:00am to 4:00pm

at Barbara Johnson Studio School, 232/234 Paragon Arts & Industries Building, 150 Pleasant Street, Easthampton, MA 01027

Cost: $195

An overview of flower painting in different mediums and styles, with emphasis on scientific botanical illustration as a style and as an excellent practice of good drawing. Introduction to color theory.

"Watercolors are the poems of art and poets should speak the truth." -Michael Crespo

August 4: introduction, discussion of materials & supplies, Discussions of illustrations versus flower paintings, Exercises, Subject matter: sketches, transferring, methods, watercolor demo, and completion of, painting

August 5: color theory, Pen and ink or color pencil demo, Exercises, New subject matter; sketches to complete painting, Possible homework

August 6: textures and background, Work on final project, Group critique

The Instructor

Camille Doucet is French and was born in Montreal, Canada, where, at three years old, she discovered drawingS on the kitchen walls. Although raised in this cosmopolitan city, she made her way to the countryside and later rooted herself deeply and enthusiastically into the hills of Danby, NY.

She studied Arts at the College du Vieux Montreal and at University Laval in Quebec City, then furthered her watercolor and nature focus through the guidance of Shtock Schlueter and Alan Sanborn in California, Anne-Marie Evans of England and Margaret Saul of North Carolina through the national Guild of Natural Science Illustrators.

Camille teaches at Cornell University since 2003, at the Community School of Music and Art since 1998 and privately since 1995. She has conducted local Plein Air workshops. She is the president of the local Guild of Natural Science Illustrators of the Finger Lakes and past director of the State of the Arts Gallery. She loves complex paintings with details and luminosity. And she balances that with quick and intense sketching. Teaching adds another form of creativity and for her the hopes and goals of the students are truly the subjects to be addressed.

Watercolor has so many techniques as well as unlimited applications that, to Camille, it is truly the medium to develop your own style, deepen your own exploration. She encourages students to discover what and how they love to paint and to recognize their own innate style. This year she is offering classes as varied as botanical illustration, Plein Air landscape painting, sketching and color theory. "We use watercolor mainly, pen and ink, colored pencils and gouache, and techniques like glazing, texturing, masking, dry brush and wet on wet to name a few. All to convey the intense beauty of a petal in the spring light, the grace of a reddening tree on the green hillside, the richness of this wonderful place we call nature.

Suggested List of Materials

paper
* 140 lb, acid free, "smooth" or "hot press" watercolor paper for detailed work, ("rough" paper for looser paintings). Note: only watercolor paper will do.
* Watercolor "blocks" (w/c paper tablet already glued on all four sides) are excellent but expensive.

brushes
Choose watercolor brushes, not oil brushes.
* round sable watercolor brush # 1, 2 and 4, are
good for details and general painting, and # 8
for washes.
* Good brands are Winsor & Newton and Grumbacher red sable.
* Prices vary from a few dollars a brush to upwards of Fifty dollars. Brushes in the $3-5 range are fine.

colors in tubes - transparent ideally, some opaque
* Available in tubes and in square pans (but more expensive)
* Good paints companies; Winsor & Newton, Grumbacher, Liquitex, Prang, etc.
* Tube prices vary from $2.75 to $15.
* Any color with a name followed by Lake or Hue means that substitute pigments have been used to approximate the genuine pigment at a lower cost and will not duplicate the character or the lightfastness of the true color.

Bring any other watercolor material that you already have. Coffee and tea will be provided. During our hour-long break for lunch, artists can enjoy their own bag lunch or visit a nearby restaurant. A list will be provided of local restaurants.

must have
* Cadmium Yellow Pale or Cadmium Yellow
* Cadmium Yellow Light or Cadmium Lemon (or Lemon Yellow)
* Permanent Rose or Quinacridone Rose (or
Permanent Alizarin Crimson) Note: Quinacridone
Rose is very expensive compared with Alizarin
Crimson. But Q. Rose lasts a long time and is
lightfast while A. Crimson fades very quickly.
* Cadmium Red
* Cobalt Blue or Ultramarine Blue
* Cerulean, Phthalo(cyanine) or Prussian Blue
* Burnt Sienna

good to have
* Cadmium Orange
* Phthalo(cyanine) Green or Viridian
* Yellow Ochre
* White gouache
* Mauve or Violet

other
* A watercolor palette, with wells for color and space for mixing. You can also use a white plate.
* Pencils 2H or HB,
* Kneaded erasers, very forgiving on w/c paper,
* Clean cotton rags, white or light color. Old cotton T-shirts are the best,
* 2 containers for water, mason jars or large yogurt type containers.
* Pen and inks will be provided in class

Registration Form

Please send payment and registration by July 21, 2006. Space is limited.
The cost for workshop is $195. Please make checks
made payable to: Barbara Johnson and send them
to her at:
16 Comins Road
Hadley, MA 01035
You can contact Barbara by phone: (413) 548-8022
or email: bjohnson2001@charter.net.

Click here for: Printable registration form (PDF)