About the Foundation Course

I feel strongly that success in watercolor is dependent on having a thorough understanding of fundamental skills and concepts associated with watercolor.  This led me to develop a comprehensive, structured, foundation course that explores these skills and concepts through a series of short demos, exercises, and small paintings.  Too often people try to learn these fundamentals while trying accomplish complete works of art, which can lead to frustration.

The course is designed to be modular to address the varied needs and skills of different individuals.  The complete course is comprised of 40 lessons ranging from beginning to advanced-intermediate skills and concepts.  Because this is a self-paced program, the courses can be taken as many times as one chooses.

Rick Surowicz

 

 

Note:  Not all modules are currently available.  The course is still in development.  I plan to release a new Module every 4-5 weeks

COURSE STRUCTURE

Module 1:  Getting Started
  • Material Basics
  • Equipment Basics
  • Set Up
  • Getting Started

 

Module 2:  Palette to Paper
  • Mixing Paint
  • Most Out of Your Brush
  • Wash Basics
  • Understanding Moisture Content

 

Module 3:  Mastering Moisture Content
  • Saturated Paper
  • Damp Paper
  • Dry Paper
  • Mastering Moisture Content

 

Module 4:  Saving the Whites and Lights
  • Direct Painting
  • Scraping and Lifting
  • Liquid Masking Fluid
  • Using Frisket

 

Module 5:  Value Contrast
  • Understanding value contrast
  • Value Studies
  • Creating Depth
  • Limited Palette

 

Module 6:  Edges, Shapes, and Negative Space
  • Edges
  • Shapes
  • Negative Painting
  • Advanced Negative Painting

 

Module 7:  Design Elements
  • Line
  • Direction
  • Texture
  • Size

 

Module 8:  Color
  • Warm and Cool Colors
  • Neutrals
  • Difficult Colors
  • Make Local Color Interesting

 

Module 9:  Composition
  • Interpreting Your Subject
  • Tangents
  • Focal Point
  • Make It Your Own

 

Module 10:  Advanced Composition
  • Conflict
  • Dominance
  • Balance
  • Unity

 

Definition of terms

Skill Block:  A lesson centered around a specific skill or concept.  There are 40 lessons called “Skill Blocks” in the course.

Module:  Four related lessons (Skill Blocks) bundled together for economy.  The 40 skill blocks in the course are divided across 10 “Modules”.

Foundation Course:  Collection of all 10 “Modules” or 40 “Skill Blocks”

Skill Exercise:  Series of exercises contained within a “Skill Block”

Template:  Downloadable PDF file of drawings and sketches used in the “Skill Exercises”

Layout Sheet:  Downloadable PDF file that defines the layout and dimensions of the exercise worksheets

Podia:  The third party hosting platform for my online courses