An Imaginary Trip To The Classroom: Working With Green

Event Phone: 813.704.0712

The color green has been giving artists fits since the very first artist picked up a paint brush! Green is a vital color on our palettes and avoiding the color isn’t really practical. On top of that, we’re given broad guidelines that while basically true, can skew our thinking.

Color becomes lighter and cooler as it recedes into the distance—does this hold true for greens?

Can you create green from any other colors besides yellow and blue?

What role does transparency and opacity play in creating useful greens in our artwork?

Does temperature play a role and if so, what is that role?

Getting a better grip on understanding green, learning how to mix vibrant, lively greens, learning how to adjust the values and temperatures of green as well as knowing when to default to pre-mixed greens takes slowing down and focusing on just one thing—the color green—rather than attempting to learning it on the go.

This Imaginary Trip To The Classroom is going to concentrate on painting with greens. Just with greens! We’ll delve into green and the four assignments for this class will focus on:

• Learning to mix vibrant, lively greens as well as when to use a pre-mixed (tube) green and how to make adjustments to it
• Learning about the values of greens and how easily they can change
• Learning to use temperature as well as value to create depth in your artwork
• Learning how to create suggested foliage that looks correct on the page
• What we can learn from color mixing charts and how to get some use of them

Art Skills

Students enrolling in this class should have the following:

• Basic drawing skills including an understanding of shapes, shading, values and perspective
• Basic painting skills including an understanding of washes, values, shaping and shapes (While it is not necessary for you to use watercolor, all demos and techniques will focus on using watercolor as the main sketching medium)
• Computer (User) Skills
• Use of email (to receive assignment details)
• Participation in a blog environment (how to post images, make comments)

Computer Technology Requirements

Students enrolling in this class should have the following:

• Computer with high-speed internet connection**
• Email (to receive assignments)
• Scanner or digital camera (for posting images)
• Computer for posting to the private class blog**

**Please note: While you can access the assignments, private class blog and video demos from a tablet (iPad®), you will still need a computer to post your assignments to the class blog. It is rarely possible to do so with an iPad.

Class Formats And Options

There are four assignments for each class with video demos and pdf handouts provided so that you can see the techniques used. An assignment will be posted each week as noted at the dates above.

The Interactive Class ONLY is for those artists who are looking to receive feedback from Laure via a private class blog and encouragement from the other travelers. This class format also works well for those artists who enjoy a high level of interaction with other travelers and feedback from the instructor, and those who tend to procrastinate because it is deadline driven. The class has a cushion of two extra weeks should you fall behind or have other obligations during the class.

The Self-Study Class ONLY is a great learning style is for those artists who have a demanding schedule, for those not interested in participating in the private blog environment, or receiving feedback from Laure. It is also an excellent format for those artists who work slowly and have no desire to work faster or to work on location.

The artist will have access to the materials for one year from the date the class starts.* All handouts can be downloaded. Videos can be watched as many times as the artist wants, but are not downloadable.

*If the artist signs up for the class after the start date, but before the end date of the class, the class materials will come online in a weekly format and be posted according to the schedule above. Materials  will be available on their respective post date.  If the artist signs up for the class after the last assignment, all materials will be available upon enrolling.

The Interactive and Self-Study Class Bundle combines the Interactive Class with the Independent Learning format so that you can participate in the blog environment as well as hang on to the materials for a year!

Frequently Asked Questions

What supplies do I need? Please click this link to see the list of recommended supplies for this class. It is not necessary for you to have the same exact pigments or even all of them, but you will need to have a well-rounded selection of pigments for this class.