We used to love painting at school but haven’t picked up a brush since; so we were more than a little rusty when we enrolled in a four-week watercolour-painting course
Thankfully we were placed in very capable hands – our incredibly talented teacher, John Pedone, has over 25 yearsof teaching experience.
Week 1
On arrival we are presented with our own watercolour starter-kit: a high-quality sketchpad, paints and brushes.
For our first lesson we experiment with using watercolour paint. John instructs, “For best results use thin glazes or layers of paint, start off with the lightest value and then build up the colour, slowly adding the darker layers”.
We attempt to glaze, however the paint seems to have a mind of it’s own and begins to flow freely over the page. We are instructed to remove the excess moisture from the page by quickly blotting it with a tissue and told to use less water the next time. The tissue-blotting trick works, we try again and have much more success the second time round.
John shows us a diagram illustrating distribution of light and encourages us to consider shadow and reflected light when we paint. We are then taught how to graph an image before we start painting – doing this ensures that the perspective is right.
Week 2
We apply the graphing skills learned in lesson one and attempt to recreate an image of elephants.
We learn how to create cloud effects by washing the page with blue paint, then using a scrunched up tissue to lift away the colour in certain areas.
John explains that masking fluid is used to preserve white areas on the paper – we apply it over the tusks and paint the rest of our elephant without smudges.
Week 3
Our homework was to find a picture to replicate and we chose an image of a mosque. It’s an ambitious choice but our teacher guides us through. We graph and sketch then apply a light grey wash for the domes.
Week 4
We spend the lesson adding detail to the mosque painting. John looks over our shoulder as we add some final shadow detail and announces proudly, “Well done! You are beginning to see through artist’s eyes now!” We can't tell if our teacher’s compliments are genuine or exaggerated in order to encourage us - either way, we take this compliment as genuine and beam with pride at our finished masterpiece. Perhaps we should frame it!
Catriona Doherty
What? Aquarelle painting course
Where? L’Atelier des Arts, Marks & Spencer’s building
Cost: AED 910 for 4 two-hour lessons and a take-home starter-kit
We say: So enjoyable that we’ve already signed up for level two
Contact: 02 639 7104
