Fall 2026

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November 20th - Renee Galligher -Find out more about Renee and her work on her website https://reneegalligherart.com/

WATERCOLOR POURING 2, BEYOND THE BASICS

Join national and international award-winning watercolor artist Renee Galligher for an all-day workshop learning the art of watercolor pouring. Renee will cover some basic color theory and watercolor techniques, including techniques on the use of masking fluid which figures prominently in watercolor pouring. We will create a watercolor pour from beginning to end, with time to create two. The second one will be a “beyond the basics” style with additional techniques and less brushwork.

Images will be provided for you to sketch in advance of the workshop. I will also provide individual composition and technique help, instruction, and critiques as you create your own watercolor pour. My objective in a pour is to capture the essence of a subject with a style that is loose, expressive, and glowing with color that mixes on the paper!

Level of Experience: Some watercolor experience advised, but all levels welcome.

Materials: Please plan to bring the following materials:

· Transparent watercolor paints. Tube watercolors work best for squeezing a small amount into a cup and mixing with water. Suggested colors, but your preferred brand will work if it is transparent:

o Blues        

- Phthalo Blue - MG                         

- Ultramarine Blue - MG

- French Ultramarine - WN

- Anthraquinone Blue - MG

o Reds

- Quinacridone Rose - MG

- Quinacridone Red - MG

o Yellows

- Aureolin – WN

- Windsor Yellow – WN

- Nickel Quinacridone Gold - MG

- Transparent Yellow – WN

- Hansa Yellow Deep – MG

o All other colors you bring to use for “beyond the basics” techniques. No mixing necessarily required, but color theory knowledge necessary to avoid making “mud.”

· Plastic cocktail cups or small plastic drinking cups for your mixed paint. Three minimum, for red, blue, and yellow. Additional cups if you wish to add quinacridone shades for additional depth. Quinacridone paints are all transparent. It is essential in watercolor pours, to use transparent paint due to the nature of allowing the colors to mix on the paper.

· Saran wrap – yes, saran wrap or any other brand of plastic kitchen wrap. We will use this for advanced techniques.

· Old credit cards or gift cards, any card that is rigid plastic to use to create veins in the leaves or bark on the trees.

· Sharpie fine point marker to create texture or enhance your painting.

· A water spray bottle to rewet your paper and to create affects with the paint.

· A large plastic bin or shallow tray such as a lunch tray. I purchased my tray on Amazon, and the bin was purchased at a dollar store. The bin is about 20” x 12” x 4” deep. When not in use, it’s a good storage bin for all your watercolor supplies.

· Masking fluid, various masking fluid application tools such as a ruling pen for fine lines, rubber tipped masking application tools, or old fine tip brushes, and a small cup or container to pour small amounts of masking fluid into to work from. I use Windsor & Newton colorless masking fluid available locally from Quality Art or online from various places including Amazon. When purchasing new, make sure the fluid moves in the bottle when you tilt it. I’ve seen too many bottles that the fluid has solidified rendering it useless.

· A masking fluid lifter. These can be found online at Amazon. They are referred to as a rubber cement lifter or eraser, or a glue residue eraser.

· Watercolor paper (cold press recommended texture), stretched and secured to the base of your choice. Two quarter sheet sizes will work nicely. The images we will work with are 8 x 10. Mount additional if you are a fast worker. You may want to do several versions of trees as I have done.

· Drafting tape or artist tape to tape off the border of the paper.

· Watercolor brushes (mops, cat’s tongues, and finer pointed brushes to pick up paint that has dripped into your bin and for touch-ups at the end). We will use very little brushwork in this workshop, but having them will help. You’ll need a small brush, at least a #6 to mix your squeezed out tube paint in your cup with water. Your spray bottle will come in handy for wetting your tube paint and making it a liquid.

· Reference photos of a topic you wish to paint or an image I’ve provided sketched on your paper in advance of the class.

· Wax free carbon paper to track images in class. Two brands I recommend are: 1. Myartscape Black Transfer Paper on Amazon, and 2. Royal Langnickel Graphite Paper from Quality Art.

· Hair dryers (set to cold only) to dry layers between pouring and masking. Hair dryers are ok but let the paint settle a few minutes on the paper before using your hair dryer. This allows the paint to fully bloom in its hue and settle in the paper.

· Bring a sketchbook/pencil for taking notes.

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                                                                     Click on this image ^^^ to get traceable copy

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​ “My objective in a watercolor pouring is to capture the essence of a subject with a style that is loose and expressive. With additional techniques, a painting can really blossom into a unique piece.”

Renee lives in Meridian and has worked in all mediums from junior high school through college. Beginning in the late 90’s, she decided to focus entirely on watercolor to learn and master this challenging medium. Little did she know that there is so much to master. Her fascination with watercolor pouring began as an interest and soon resulted in a series of paintings ranging in landscapes, still life, and portraits, both animal and people.

Renee has built a business based on commissioned art, primarily pet and people portraits. Her work can be found locally in the Capitol Gift Shop as well as in Torrey’s Burnt Creek Inn near Stanley. Several of her pieces have been recognized as best in show and best in class; internationally by Jack Richeson and Women in Watercolor and locally at the Western Idaho State Fair, as well as the Nampa Art Guild and Idaho Watercolor Society.

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January 22nd - Karen Hickman - Watercolor - Subject will be a White Swan  

     Find out more about Karen and her work on her website  https://www.watercolorswithkaren.com/

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February 26th - Kristen Gibby - Oils - Subject - Entomology and Natural Elements with a personal collection for your reference

​      Find out more about Kristen and her work on her website https://www.kristingibbyart.com/

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March 26th - Brian Schreiner - Acrylic or Watercolor to be announced later