It has been very pleasant to be able to start up our real-life creative weeks at the Watermill, after a long layoff due to coronavirus restrictions. We’ve still got another couple of courses at the Watermill itself, but we are now turning our attention to a new series of online, interactive painting sessions, beginning next month.
Our first online session is with Randy Hale, the American watercolourist, who ran a very successful painting week here at the Watermill earlier this year.
Randy’s first online session will be on Thursday, 4 November 2021 at 5pm European time (CET). The session will last a couple of hours.
For his first session, Randy was inspired by the forest of bamboo at the edge of the Watermill ground (above). We know it as the bamboozery (you put shrubs in a shrubbery, so why not bamboo in a bamboozery?)
Randy says: “There is nothing more relaxing than watching endless tree canopies covering the hillsides around The Watermill at Posara [in Tuscany, Italy]— all endlessly rolling, swaying to an unseen hand stirring the air, creating undulating waves of green! At once this feels strange for the uninitiated – BAMBOO forests? In the mountains? Yes, it is strange, but soothing! When you visit the Watermill you can follow soft pathways that take you deeper into these mesmerizing forests of bamboo. A dense jungle of stalks stretch 60-70 feet into the air with a canopy of leaves so thick that light can’t quite penetrate. The bamboo is a unique feature of the Watermill of Posara, so it’s only appropriate we create a painting of these thick forests. Remember…. our host Bill Breckon will be in the lead, walking us across cushioned trails of fallen leaves, captivating his listeners with another fantastic tale!
This will be a limited-palette painting utilizing strong negative shape impressions – namely the overall leafy canopy shape of the bamboo leaves and supporting stalks, along with a figure emerging into the light. Both will be strong negative shapes that are defined by the darker (rich) values of interior shadow.
• The LIGHT values: Cool yellows, light turquoise, golden apple greens with some areas left almost the white of the paper
• The DARK values: Rich Prussian Blues mixed with raw umber along with a touch of orange for warmth.”
Unlike many online painting tutors, Randy will not expect you to ‘look over his shoulder’ for a long demonstration, and perhaps be allowed to ask the odd question or two. No, you will be painting along at more or less the same time, trying out the watercolour techniques that Randy shows you, step-by-step. He will demonstrate some basic techniques for only a few minutes before you start painting the same subject at home. Then, after you’ve been given a little time to catch up, Randy will move onto the next part of the process. Lois Breckon from The Watermill at Posara will be on hand during the session to feed your questions. The session will last a couple of hours.
The cost of the session is £35 (English pounds), which works out at about $50 US. Our Zoom painting demonstrations do take quite a bit of time in preparation and administration and your support is very much appreciated. With your generosity we can plan and run further sessions and, more importantly, provide a regular meeting place for creativity, camaraderie and fun. We hope that you enjoy the international, online painting community that we have created.
Once you have registered you will be provided with two links. The first is the Zoom link for you to join the session. Please note that the start time is 5pm European time (Central European Time, CET), that is, 4pm (UK time, GMT). Since it is the time of year which clocks change from summertime to wintertime , please check the precise starting time in your own time zone compared with Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
The second link is where you will find the photograph that you will paint, a sample drawing, a practice painting ((to come), Randy’s notes, and a list of equipment and colours for your palette. If you would like to paint along with Randy, be warned that he works fast and you may like to have your own drawing ready.
After the event, you are invited to add your painting to the private gallery, where you will be able to view the same scene uploaded by your fellow painters on Zoom. In addition, we will send you a link to a video that will enable to you revisit Randy’s step-by-step teaching.
You can find out more about Randy’s style of teaching online by watching the edited video below from a Zoom session earlier this year, hosted by The Watermill at Posara: please just click here.
When you have painted with Randy online, why not join him for real at the Watermill in Tuscany Italy next summer? We would love to welcome you to the Watermill. You can find more details of Randy’s week-long course, from Saturday 11 June to Saturday, 18 June, by clicking here.