FAQs
Is there a minimum age requirement to enter the event?
18 years or older
Is this a plein air workshop?
This two day workshop will be split into an in-class day on day 1 followed by plein air painting on day 2.
What are my transportation/parking options for getting to and from the event?
Street parking available.
What can I bring to the workshop?
Supply list will be emailed to you upon booking your ticket & two weeks prior to the workshop.
How big is the class?
We will be 10(min)-15(max) of us.
What’s the refund policy?
Refunds will be issued if minimum number of participants is not met by Jan 10, 2019. No refunds after that unless instructor cancels the class.
Is previous watercolor experience required?
Yes, previous watercolor experience is needed.
Is this a repeat of the workshop held in Porto, Portugal for the Urban Sketchers’ Symposium?
USK symposium workshops are 3 hour long workshops held outdoors. This is a more intense workshop where we will start with exercises in studio before we step out the next day.
- An extended workshop works at a slower pace – but allows to cement the basics it needs to cover for a strong outdoor painting session on day 2.
- Longer time duration also allows for more material to be explored.
- An indoor to outdoor class transition has been shown to boost confidence of the students and that increases the happiness quotient of class participants as well as the instructor.
Enjoyed the class — the warm ups paced the class nicely, content was perfect — loved the insight into the limited palette way to work quickly plein aire. Since there was a TV there, would have been nice to have the demos televised live because 15 people crowded around a person was a little bit tight.
This was an excellent workshop. Appreciated breaking down the barriers to achieve better compositions with color contrasts. Really enjoyed the hands on experience of getting out of the studio and working with individual scenes in the neighborhood. I feel better prepared to work similarly on my own. Uma had us each successfully moving forward in our individual work and style.
Uma has great energy and was able to push me towards the next level in my painting journey. I would recommend her and her workshops to anyone wanting to move forwards with their skills. Very easy to approach and get feed back, I felt like I hired a private instructor in a workshop setting.
Uma is a good teacher and is able to break down the larger exercises into parts. I liked the “seeing” exercise – how to see, and reduce the clutter to a few big shapes. Very useful to go on a joint field trip and see together. The washes were a good exercise too. I did feel that what the title suggested [Gray Matter] wasn’t pushed to the maximum. I thought we would do more neutral color exercises, talk about color combinations, mixing grays, etc. and explore combinations of neutrals with bolder colors – per the image when this class was advertised.
Thank you for the feedback Tanvi. Here is the description from the workshop description, “What it wants to convey is that most paintings can be painted using a flow method of watercolors, top to bottom, like a wash. Two complementary colors are then used to achieve maximum color contrast, harmonized by using gray. The class will emphasize wet in wet painting, loose capture of scene and abstraction of parts of a painting. Come with an attitude to challenge yourself and to practice hard. There will be time to brush up technical skills, especially the art of looking as well as time to see many examples of using same technique while painting varied scenes.”
I don’t see setting expectations of bolder colors and mixing grays with it. But point noted, I will clarify to others if I rename it Gray Matter again.
I enjoyed this two-day workshop and can see how my watercolor skills have improved. I’ve learned several techniques for controlling washes, and how paper, brush and paint (pigment and brand) all contribute to success. I enjoyed walking around the neighborhood making thumbnails (in pencil) and will integrate this into my own daily art practice.