Description
Discover the joy of painting from life with watercolour — loose, fluid, and full of movement.
Artist Caron Clarke will guide you every step of the way, ensuring a nurturing and supportive environment.
This workshop dives into expressive portrait and figure painting in watercolour, working directly from a live model. Through demonstrations and guided exercises, you’ll explore how to let go of overworking and trust your eye, your hand, and the medium itself.
You’ll experiment with:
• Painting intuitively through speed and observation
• Building form, tone, and character with confidence
• Embracing movement, looseness, and selective detail
• Responding directly to a life model
Caron will begin the day with live demonstrations, breaking the process down into simple, approachable steps. You’ll learn how to layer washes gradually to shape the figure, while staying playful and responsive to what’s happening on the page.
We’ll finish with a relaxed group portrait exchange — quick, fun portraits taken in turns, with plenty of room to experiment and enjoy the process.
About Caron
Caron is an artist who in recent years has focussed on watercolour as her favourite medium. She uses it with verve and confidence; her vivid colours and powerful brushwork communicate the intensity of her visual engagement with the world. She works from life, painting landscapes, portraits, the figure and of course flowers, with the same sure touch.
She exhibits regularly and has been an artist for all of her professional life, woven together with her teaching assignments.
Watching her paint is inspiring, as she places her luscious colours you feel yourself wanting to pick up the brush yourself, the direct way in which she works is easy to assimilate and she is open about sharing what she is doing.
Experience the joy of painting with watercolours, make new friends, and take home not just a piece of art but a piece of your newfound passion.
You can see her work here.
Material List
Participants are welcome to bring what they already have.
Watercolours
Any brand you already own is absolutely fine.
Suggested colours:
- Permanent Rose or Permanent Alizarin
- Burnt Sienna
- Raw Sienna
- French Ultramarine
- Sap Green or Viridian
- Payne’s Grey or Neutral Tint
- Winsor Yellow (Lemon) or Cadmium Yellow (Hue)
- Cadmium Red (Hue) or Winsor Red
Brushes (5 recommended)
Both synthetic and natural sable brushes are suitable, but synthetic brushes are highly recommended for this workshop.
- Mop brush
- Large round
- Medium round
- Small round / detail brush
- Square / flat brush
Paper
- Daler-Rowney Aquafine textured watercolour pad, A3 (300gsm)
- Bockingford watercolour paper, one A1 sheet (optional)
Other materials
- Palette with multiple wells
- Collapsible water jug / water pot
- Artist-quality masking tape:
- Pencil, eraser & sharpener
- Kitchen roll or rags
- Viewfinder (homemade or purchased)
