One-Day Classes

This webpage details the One Day Classes offered by Southwestern Watercolor Society.

In addition to One Day Classes, SWS also offers six Multi-Day Workshops per year: 3 in the spring and 3 in the fall.

Details about Multi-Day Workshops can be found here: Workshops

Learn plein air techniques indoors to prepare for future outdoor paint outs, including composition and choices of supplies.  This one day watercolor landscape class will focus on exploring plein air techniques, shadows, light, and freshness.  Topics include:

Plein air materials and equipment
Finding the center of interest and a composition in a vast landscape
How to prepare a sketch for painting (what's important and what's not)
Watercolor mixing and application
Finding the lights and darks
Wet into wet applications to keep the painting fresh
Shadow mixing and application

Let’s Go Black! –  This full-day, immersive workshop is an invitation to step into the quiet power of black—where depth, mystery, and subtle beauty reside. We will linger in velvety darkness and sandy roughness, discovering how black holds multitudes: hidden colors beneath the surface, tonal shifts that alter everything around them, and a richness that transforms what the eye believes it sees. Together, we’ll play—intentionally and curiously—with black.

You’ll learn my approach to creating a soft, matte, velvety black, explore distinctive black techniques from other artists, and experiment with a raw, gritty black that reveals its magic through water alone.

Designed for artists with a solid watercolor foundation, this workshop is for those ready to look more closely—examining when, how, and why the absence of color can speak most clearly, and how black can become a powerful storyteller on the page.

Payment in full is required for our One-Day Classes at time of registration.