Discover the beauty of transparent watercolour while painting fresh flowers in a glass, and return home with your own painting and flowers.

Designed especially for complete beginners, this relaxed three-hour workshop introduces you to the essentials of watercolour through one of the medium’s most beautiful subjects: fresh flowers, transparent glass and water.

You’ll work from real seasonal flowers, learning how to translate their colours and shapes into loose, luminous watercolour. At the end of the workshop, you’ll be able to take a selection of the flowers home with you — a little piece of the class to enjoy after you’ve finished painting.

Watercolour is at its most magical when light travels through layers of transparent paint. We’ll explore how to use this quality to create delicate overlapping petals, fresh colour and the illusion of transparent glass and water.

We’ll begin with simple exercises in colour mixing, washes and transparency before practising loose flowers and leaves. You’ll then discover how just a few carefully placed reflections, shadows and broken edges can make a glass appear transparent.

Finally, we’ll bring everything together to create your own finished floral watercolour.

What you’ll learn

How to control water and pigment

How to create luminous, transparent washes

How to mix fresh colours without creating mud

Wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry techniques

Simple, expressive brushstrokes for petals, leaves and stems

How to layer transparent colours

How to suggest glass, reflections and water

How to simplify real flowers into a beautiful, expressive painting

Absolutely no previous drawing or painting experience is necessary.

You’ll be guided through the process with clear demonstrations and individual help throughout. The emphasis is on experimenting with watercolour and understanding how it behaves, rather than trying to produce a perfect copy.

All art materials and fresh flowers are provided.

You’ll leave with your finished flower-and-glass watercolour, your practice studies, new watercolour skills and a selection of fresh flowers to take home and enjoy.

About your Tutor

The workshop is taught by Ann Mackowski, a London-based artist and experienced art teacher specialising in drawing, watercolour and oil painting.

Ann has been teaching art in central London for over ten years, working with everyone from complete beginners picking up a brush for the first time to more experienced artists looking to develop their technique.

Ann is an award winning artist with extensive experience, having exhibited with the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours, the New English Art Club, Society of Women Artists, and she was a featured contestant on Sky Landscape Artist of the Year.

Ann runs Soho Life Drawing and Private Art Events London, teaching regular classes, private tuition and creative events in the heart of London.

Description supplied by the event organiser.