Have you looked at black watercolour paper and wondered what it is all about? You might be thinking how can that can possibly work on a black surface? Join me as we turn things upside down and explore using watercolour on black. Instead of painting shadows, we will paint light. Using our favourite colours and effects, we will retain the essence of watercolour while working on this new surface.

Please watch the introduction film and look at the materials list to see if this is the right course for you.

We will start by exploring how our watercolours show up on black and practice techniques to help them stand out on the surface. Then we will use this knowledge in a few different paintings to really gain experience of black watercolour paper.

It is crucial that you don't skip the swatching stage. When I have run this workshop in person, this is the lesson people said they learnt a huge amount from. I would suggest doing the bubbles next as they are a simple stepping stone to more complex subjects. Whether you do the hare, forest or dinosaur next is entirely up to you.

Watercolour is a transparent medium by its nature, so how will our favourite colours show up on black and will they behave in the same way? This lesson will guide you through what to look for and also how we can still use highly transparent colours on black, alongside the more opaque options.

It's time to put some of our discoveries into action. In this simple painting of bubbles, we will float transparent colours on top of white washes, along side wet in wet with our more opaque colours. We will practice hard and soft edges. We will layer colours on top of each other and see how well they lift. Who knew you could learn so much from a few bubbles?

I would strongly suggest not skipping this lesson. Even if the bubbles do not particularly appeal to you, you will learn a huge amount from capturing them. After this, please feel free to move onto the hare, forest or dinosaur in any order you wish.

In this lesson we will apply our learning to painting this rather lovely hare. We will paint wet on dry, wet in wet, layer colour and add final details. I will take you through the entire process step by step. From the initial plan, to sketching out and colour selection, each stage is shown in full.

If you would prefer to tackle the forest or dinosaur next, please feel free so to do. They can be completed in any order, although I thought the dinosaur was a little light relief at the end of the course!

Not everyone wants to paint animal portraits, so in this lesson we will apply our experience and knowledge to painting a sunlit misty forest. It will teach us a lot about the power of negative painting, as well as creating atmosphere.

Negative painting is a very powerful technique in watercolour, so you will be able to use it in your paintings whatever surface you choose. If you want to delve into it further you might enjoy the Negative Painting course here on Liz Chaderton Studio.

If you have completed all the lessons in order, this is the final bonus lesson. In many ways the techniques are similar to those used in the hare, however when I came across this reference picture of the T Rex, I could not resist painting him and I hope you have as much fun with him as I did!