Watercolours With Life: Preparing for a Workshop

Sunday 4 April 2010

Preparing for a Workshop

Monkey Business!

A painting that without fail makes me smile!

Original Watercolour by Jean Haines.

Preparing For a Workshop.

You have booked your workshop and you are planning what to take with you, nerves are setting in if this is your first one and excitement could be setting in if you know the artists work and have been looking forward to seeing them in action. You have carried out research beforehand in that you have seen their paintings and you know they have taught before on many occasions. Everything is as it should be so now you pack!

A few tips..............

1) Always take your favourite equipment with you. Make sure if you have bought new brushes you have used them before the class. It is too late to discover you don't like them half way through a session! Take plenty of good quality paper in case you need it for exercises and main paintings. Take your palette, favourite watercolour shades and a water container. Take a table easel or easel whichever you prefer to work with if you wish and always take what is the easiest to carry for the journey especially if travelling abroad. If in doubt of what to take ask the artist what they use!

2) Check the Location. How many are in the class and will you have plenty of room to work? Find out if a car park is near where you will be painting so you know how much you can take and how far you need to carry your materials. If you haven't far you can load the car!

3) Arrive Early to set up and meet the other artists attending. Avoid walking in and missing the first demonstrations.This does not go down well with the other artists or the demonstrator!

4) Be a considerate Artist on a workshop. Do not disturb other artists if you can see they are in the middle of a wonderful painting.Wait to chat in coffee breaks or lunch periods.

5) Relax! Forget everyone else and have a great time. Everyone has chosen to be on the workshop for a reason. To learn and be inspired .

6) Don't be nervous! The only person who has the right to be nervous is the demonstrator as they have everyone watching! Smile and enjoy the day!

7) Practise when you get home.Don't waste all the energy and time invested in a workshop by not allowing yourself some free time when you leave the sessions to cover what you have taken in or enjoyed!

8) Finally, be smart! If you enjoy the workshop book early for future sessions. Share good and bad expreiences with friends so everyone has the chance to only have wonderful experiences!

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My workshops in 2010 are almost fully booked apart from a few spaces in Autumn but I have some fabulous art courses lined up for 2011 which include other favourite artists too.So watch this space!

I am being approached to teach all over the world which is so wonderful and yes I am interested in doing so. Please could Art Societies or Art Groups who wish to book my workshops either here or abroad please contact me as soon as possible as my schedule for 2011 and 2012 is already filling.

jeanhaines@hotmail.com

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The Artist Magazine : Book Review

Jean Haines' Atmospheric Watercolours

"The book is nothing less than a paean to the wet in wet technique. If that's your thing, prepare to be amazed. Jean Haines credits Jean Louis Morelle, and in many ways this book is the sequel to Morelle's remarkable, but very technical work, showing the wealth of creative possibilities the technique offers. A lot of the images are barely recognisable and yet you instinctively know what they are. I wish I knew how, because this is impressionism taken to its logical conclusion and reminiscent of some of the later work by JMW Turner. You will have to take it from me that "First signs of a face appearing magically from a first wash of watercolour" is pure alchemy. This is an extraordinary book."

"Amazing Ways With Watercolour:" Fastest Selling DVD!

"Amazing Ways With Watercolour" from Town House Films is the fastest selling DVD with the company to date! Record breaking pre-orders for this much awaited film saw requests for copies flooding in from all over the world. A wonderful introduction into working with watercolour minus the use of a preliminary sketch this DVD removes the fear, stress or pressure from worry about how to use watercolour. Instead the focus is on having fun, enjoying vibrant colour combinations and allowing the medium to create the subjects with just a little help from the artist. A really exciting new DVD to own. Whilst the DVD sold out in the first few months since its' release due to popularity it is now in stock and available directly from Town House Films.

http://www.townhousefilms.co.uk

How To Paint Colour and Light in Watercolour

"How to Paint Colour and Light in Watercolour" Jeans first book was launched at the Mall Galleries in 2010 at the SWA Society for Women Artists Annual Exhibition. Many copies have been sold world wide. It is available on Amazon.com, Search Press, SAA Society for All Artists and Ken Bromley.

"This book is a wonderful introduction into Jeans' way of working and gives an insight into her way of thinking and approach to a large variety of subjects. All painted minus the use of a preliminary sketch."