Workshop Information

Currently, our San Diego County and the CA Department of Health recommends wearing masks when indoors and when you are around those who may be vulnerable to the virus.

All workshop participants must have an account on our website to register for a workshop. SDWS Members should log in to their account prior to registering. If you are not a member and do not have an account, please click HERE to create a free account.

Workshop prices are discounted for SDWS Members.  To receive the discounted price, please log in to your account before registering. If you are not a member or your membership has expired and would like to receive the discounted price, click "Membership" in the main menu to renew your membership or join SDWS prior to signing up.

Please contact our workshops registrar at registrar@sdws.org if you need assistance or the workshops director at workshops@sdws.org with any questions.

In-Gallery Workshops: All in-gallery workshops are held in our beautifully light-filled education center inside the San Diego Watercolor Gallery in The ARTS District of Liberty Station. (Location)

ZOOM Workshops: Virtual workshops will be conducted using Zoom. They will include a combination of live painting demo(s), interactive communication with the instructor, and individual painting time - all from the convenience of your home / studio.

Click HERE for Virtual Workshop Technology Requirements

Click HERE for Workshop Refund Policy

Click HERE for Nearby Hotel Accommodations


Premier Workshops

Premier Workshops are typically four days and take place during the week. They are taught by nationally and internationally renowned artists. Workshops are open to artist of all levels.

 

Figures Through the Light and Shadow

Figures Through the Light and Shadow

Instructor: Eudes Correia

Eudes Correia is one of the most outstanding contemporary watercolor artists on the world stage.

He transforms ordinary people who travel in the city, almost invisible, into the protagonists of his work. Always counting a history with sensibility and personality. Eudes has excelled on the international stage, participated in exhibitions, and given workshops in more than 30 countries around the world.He is sponsored by Winsor & Newton Global.

In this class he will address the following:

  • Volume
  • Perspective
  • Light and shadow
  • Contrast
  • Tonal value
  • Gradient
  • Connection of colors
  • Types of brush strokes
  • Understanding a 3D face
  • Understanding the volumes of a face
  • Skin color study
  • Understanding shadows and projected shadows
  • Soft and hard shadow
  • Variation of color tones 

Skill level: Intermediate Painter

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Non Members Fee: $475.00 Members Fee: $450.00

Date: Wednesday, April 10, 2024 - Friday, April 12, 2024
Time:
9:00 AM-3:30 PM
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Acrylic Animals on Canvas

Acrylic Animals on Canvas

Instructor: Roberta Dyer

 

Learn Roberta's eclectic style to paint various subjects in watercolor, acrylic, drawing, and collage.

 

All levels welcome.

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Non Members Fee: $185.00 Members Fee: $165.00

Date: Saturday, April 20, 2024 - Sunday, April 21, 2024
Time:
9:00 AM-3:30 PM

WAIT LIST ONLY

Please click here to be added to the waitlist.

Exploring the Fun of Gel Plate Printing

Exploring the Fun of Gel Plate Printing

Instructor: Joanne Newman

Let's have fun together exploring basic techniques of gel plate printing. We'll start with an overview of supplies, equipment, and their care. Then, we'll launch into exploring a variety of ways to create collage papers, cards, and monotype art pieces.

We will do this through a series of mini-projects that will be done as a class. Gel plate printing is fun and full of surprises! 

Experience level: Beginners on up. All are welcome.

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Non Members Fee: $185.00 Members Fee: $165.00

Date: Monday, May 20, 2024 - Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Time:
9:00 AM-3:30 PM
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Acrylic Abstracts on Aquarius - Live in Gallery Workshop

Acrylic Abstracts on Aquarius - Live in Gallery Workshop

Instructor: Risë Parberry

Acrylic Abstracts on Aquarius 2024

Once a solely traditional realistic watercolorist, Risë currently enjoys creating abstract paintings using Golden Fluid Acrylics and Mediums on Strathmore Aquarius II paper.

The class will begin the painting with an intuitive, experimental approach and continue toward resolution with the application of the principals of design. 

Risë will share the secret of three primary hues from which artists can mix virtually any color imaginable.  She will acquaint those attending with simple, user-friendly strategies applicable to any color wheel to create powerful and coherent color harmonies. 

Lessons will also focus on design dominance related to textures, transparency/opacity, and editing for strength and consistency. Students will explore the use of symbols in abstraction.    

Experience: All levels welcome. 

There will be a $10.00 supply fee payable on the first day of the workshop.

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Non Members Fee: $185.00 Members Fee: $165.00

Date: Monday, June 10, 2024 - Tuesday, June 11, 2024
Time:
9:00 AM-3:30 PM
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Landscape Collage -   ZOOM Workshop

Landscape Collage - ZOOM Workshop

Instructor: Alison Watt

 Learn from an artist/biologist how to combine the elements of the landscape with collage, mixed media, and acrylic to create an abstracted landscape painting.

In this workshop we will work with mixed media, and experimental techniques and tools to create complex surfaces and collage papers. We will use a variety of materials (inks, oil pastel, watercolour, pencil crayon, coloured marker…) We will explore unusual tools for paint application and mark making (cards, brayers, Squeegies, combs, feathers, twigs, textural materials) as well as techniques such as resist and monoprinting.

Experience level: All are welcome.

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Non Members Fee: $275.00 Members Fee: $250.00

Date: Monday, July 8, 2024 - Wednesday, July 10, 2024
Time:
9:00 AM-3:30 PM
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Plein Air Workshop

Plein Air Workshop

Instructor: Shuang Li

This three-day workshop provides an excellent opportunity for watercolor artists to explore and learn the keys of painting successful watercolors on location.

During the workshop and through step-by-step demos, Shuang will discuss the following with you, plus personal assistance and help when you paint:

  • How to select an ideal location and simplify your subject matter 
  • How to emphasize light and shapes in your composition
  • How to mix watercolor on paper and create dramatic impact
  • How to capture the mood and atmosphere of the location

 All levels welcome (*This is an outdoor workshop, mobility and transportation required)

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Non Members Fee: $350.00 Members Fee: $325.00

Date: Friday, July 19, 2024 - Sunday, July 21, 2024
Time:
9:00 AM-3:30 PM
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Abstracted Landscape in Watercolor - LIVE

Abstracted Landscape in Watercolor - LIVE

Instructor: Ratindra Das

Abstracted Landscapes in Watercolor

In this class you will ...

  • Explore shapes and their relationships and placement on paper.
  • Use your drawings and photographs in a creative way. Extract essential shapes from your reference materials (your own photographs, sketches, drawings, or paintings) and place these in an orderly manner on paper.
  • Explore lights and darks (values). Know the difference between “Nature’s Light” and “Artist’s Light.”
  • Learn to use conceptual and ambiguous lights as well as value relationships with colors.
  • Explore color in design. Learn how a color dominance (warm or cool) can achieve unity in a painting. Explore tertiary colors and their effects in painting. 
  • Add Verve to your painting. Movement, calligraphy, design for flatness, and move towards abstraction.

 

Experience level: Intermediate to Advanced

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Non Members Fee: $450.00 Members Fee: $425.00

Date: Monday, August 12, 2024 - Thursday, August 15, 2024
Time:
9:00 AM-3:30 PM
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Matting and Framing

Matting and Framing

* * * THIS IS A ONE-DAY WORKSHOP * * *

Instructors Susan Hewitt and Denise Tverdoch

Learn the basics of matting framing for gallery exhibitions. The workshop will cover framing options, acceptable matting, and glazing methods. We will explore multiple mounting techniques including floating. Emphasis will be placed on learning how to cut mats using various mat cutters.

You will learn the secret to perfectly aligned double matting and how to create multiple diptychs and triptychs. In addition, cradle board framing, our newest substrate, will be demonstrated. Also discover ways how to properly package your artwork for shipping.

All levels welcome.

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Non Members Fee: $120.00 Members Fee: $100.00

Date: Saturday, August 17, 2024
Time:
9:00 AM-3:30 PM
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The Enlightened Brush: Compelling Portraits and Figures

The Enlightened Brush: Compelling Portraits and Figures

Instructor: Ken Call

Hello everyone!

I am very much looking forward to our workshop this September. I hope you all are too!

I will be giving a demonstration each day.

  • On day 1, you can bring something of your own to paint, regardless of subject matter. It can be landscapes, flowers, people, etc. This will give myself a chance to see at what level each of you are in regards to watercolor painting. No matter where you are at presently, we will have fun and hopefully I can teach you a few things.
  • On day 2, we will all be painting from the same reference photos supplied by myself - of people, of course! You should be getting the photos by e-mail about 2 weeks before.

Seeing that my specialty is painting people, I would encourage everyone to try do a portrait or figures on our 3rd day. I will give a portrait demo that morning and afterwards can help anyone with their drawing before starting their own painting. Please try and have your painting predawn and we can adjust from there if needed.

Please bring several samples of previous work to show. I will be available at times for a more personal review of your work.

Experience level: No matter where you are at presently, we will have fun and hopefully I can teach you a few things.

Find out more…

Non Members Fee: $450.00 Members Fee: $425.00

Date: Monday, September 16, 2024 - Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Time:
9:00 AM-4:00 PM
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Gouache on Black Paper: Telling a Story with Big Shapes, Edges, and Colors LIVE

Gouache on Black Paper: Telling a Story with Big Shapes, Edges, and Colors LIVE

 Instructor: Sarah Sullivan

Join us for an engaging two-day workshop, all about visual storytelling with gouache on a dark surface. Our class will include a series of four collaborative paint-alongs. We'll explore my personal favorite: telling a story with a simple composition that intentionally leaves a portion of the black paper untouched by paint, offering a unique design element. Join us for two days of exploring the beauty of this versatile medium.

Recommended experience level: All levels are welcome

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Non Members Fee: $185.00 Members Fee: $165.00

Date: Monday, November 11, 2024 - Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Time:
9:00 AM-3:30 PM
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