Painting Watercolours on Canvas - is this course the right one for you?

Painting Watercolours on Canvas - is this course the right one for you?

Is this course for you? Watch this introduction to see.

If you already paint in watercolour and are intrigued by the possibility of working on a new surface, you will find working on canvas an exciting possibility. If you are fed up of hiding your paintings behind sheets of glass or don't want to be restricted by the size of watercolour paper, then painting watercolour on canvas gives you new opportunities. 

This course is intended to be as close as possible to sitting next to me in my studio learning. We will cover everything from the materials, to techniques, special challenges and finishing off.

This is not a beginner's watercolour course, but is suitable for those who have at least a little to a lot of experience in painting watercolour on paper. Please note that three modules from this course have been bundled separately into the Painting on a Textured Canvas course, for those who have already done some watercolour work on canvas.

 If you have enjoyed this course and share the work you've done on it, please make sure to tag me on social media (@lizchaderton on Instagram and /lizchadertonartist on Facebook) so I can get to see it too! It would be great if you could say that it is from this course, as that helps spread the word.

If you are not a member already, why not join Watercolour Studio over on Facebook? https://www.facebook.com/groups/694706731930461 And finally, you should not exhibit or display pieces completed on this course without my written permission, to comply with copyright law. I really look forward to seeing what you do. 

Painting Watercolours on Canvas

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Introduction to Painting Watercolours on Canvas

  • Painting Watercolours on Canvas - is this course the right one for you?
  • 'Painting Watercolours on Canvas' - contents of each module
  • Materials list - what you need to complete this course

Materials and preparation

  • What is watercolour ground?1
  • The advantages of preparing your own canvas for watercolour
  • A simple recipe for watercolour ground
  • How to prepare your own watercolour canvas3
  • Brands of watercolour ground and canvases available worldwide

Warming up our watercolours

  • Getting used to working on watercolour ground2
  • How to grid up a sketch or photo to transfer it to canvas
  • Photo of the warming up exercises for reference
  • Photo of the warming up exercises for reference - second example
  • Links for finding online gridding tools
  • Top tips for painting watercolours on canvas

Tone

  • Controlling the tone of our watercolour - tonal strip exercise
  • Photo of completed tonal strips
  • Painting a monochrome on canvas - part 1
  • Painting a monochrome on canvas - part 26
  • Reference photo of sparrow
  • Sparrow reference - black and white
  • Sparrow monochrome painting2
  • Photo of the green ram shown in the film
  • Photo of blue fox shown in the film

Creating the illusion of textures - tips and tricks

  • Experimenting and creating the illusion of texture
  • Photo of different texture samples - 12
  • Photo of different texture samples - 2
  • Using textural techniques on canvas - abstract birch trees2
  • Birch reference photo - blue version
  • Birch reference photo - yellow version
  • Original birch tree reference
  • Abstracted birch painting4

Colourful cow - putting everything learnt so far into practice

  • Planning and thumbnail sketch
  • Thumbnail sketch version 1
  • Thumbnail sketch version 2
  • Reference photo of cows
  • Reference photo of cows - black and white
  • Starting to paint the first layer - part 1
  • Starting to paint the first layer - part 2
  • Developing the second layer
  • Adding the final details
  • Photo of the final cow painting1

How to layer successfully on canvas - using AQUA Fix

  • A quick introduction to AQUA Fix4
  • Planning and thumbnail sketch
  • Painting the nest - part 1
  • Painting the nest - part 22
  • Painting the nest - part 32
  • Reference photo of nest and eggs
  • Photo of final nest painting

Creating a textured canvas

  • Creating a textured surface4

How to layer successfully on canvas - using Indian ink

  • Exploring how Indian ink behaves on watercolour ground2
  • Example reference sheet of Indian ink - version 1
  • Example reference sheet of Indian ink - version 2
  • Planning and thumbnail sketch4
  • The ink layer - part 1 v22
  • The ink layer - part 2
  • The ink layer - part 3
  • Moving onto watercolour
  • Finishing off the kingfishers6
  • Reference photo of kingfishers - colour
  • Reference photo of kingfishers - black and white
  • Thumbnail sketch
  • Photo of kingfishers - completed ink under painting
  • Photo of final kingfishers

Sealing and finishing

  • Sealing and finishing2
  • List of useful information, resources and groups