Arts & Crafts

Beginner Watercolor Painting

Meets Tuesdays 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM · Fall 2026 · registration open

This class runs in the Fall 2026 session. Registration is open now; lessons, materials, and the class discussion board are posted before it begins.

This is a relaxed start for adults who have never picked up a brush. We work small, layer fast, and let the dry Utah County air do half the drying for us. Most online tutorials assume humid weather and lie to you about timing, so we teach to the air we actually have.

You'll practice basic washes, learn how colors mix (and what makes mud, so you can make it on purpose), and build up to simple foothill and mountain landscapes. Cheap paper, six colors, a round brush and a flat one. That's the whole kit.

No critiques, no pressure to finish anything or take it home framed. You'll leave able to lay a clean wash, mix the colors you actually see, and paint a small landscape you don't hate. Heck yes.

Lessons

Before You Touch Water
We set up a tiny kit, ruin some paper on purpose, and get comfortable being bad at this.
- •The whole kit: six colors, two brushes, water18 min
- •Cheap paper first, and why 140lb matters15 min
- •Taping down and the buckled-paper truth12 min
- •Ruining a page on purpose so you stop caring14 min
Washes, the Actual Foundation
Flat, graded, and wet-on-wet washes, worked small so the dry air stays your friend.
- •The flat wash: one even color, no drama20 min
- •Graded wash: dark to light in one move22 min
- •Wet-on-wet and how fast it sets here20 min
- •Reading how wet your brush actually is16 min
Mixing Color (and Making Mud on Purpose)
How six colors become a lot of colors, and why a little mud is useful.
- •Warm and cool of each color you own18 min
- •Greens that don't look like a highlighter22 min
- •What makes mud, so you can control it20 min
- •The gray-brown of August foothills18 min
Layering Fast in Dry Air
Building depth with quick layers instead of waiting around like the humid-climate tutorials tell you.
- •First layer, dry, second layer, dry: the rhythm20 min
- •Glazing to deepen a color without mixing18 min
- •Soft edges vs hard edges and timing them20 min
- •Salt, lifting, and other cheap texture tricks22 min
Simple Skies and Distance
Skies first because they forgive you, then pushing things back into the distance.
- •A plain sky wash from a reference photo20 min
- •Clouds by lifting, not by painting18 min
- •Making the far mountains sit far away22 min
- •Where to put stuff (I work by feel, honestly)16 min
A Small Landscape, Start to Whenever
Putting it together into one little foothill scene you can abandon guilt-free.
- •Sketching a loose plan from a photo18 min
- •Sky, mountains, foreground, in that order25 min
- •Dry grass, scrub, and a few marks for interest22 min
- •Knowing when to stop, or not finishing at all15 min

Class discussion

All threads →

📌 Week 1: what made you sign up?
Elizabeth Smith · Instructor · 0 replies