Sparkling Light on the Sea in Watercolour with Catherine Beale

Learn to manipulate wet-in-wet watercolour to create a beautiful seascape brimming with light and atmosphere. Explore themes in Catherine’s new book ‘Capturing light’ and watch her demonstrate techniques from her ‘painting lifecycle’. Experiment with mixing fluid paint on the page, use tubed pigment to deepen tone for dramatic effect and try lifting-off paint for further subtle light effects. The day will be full of demonstrations designed to show the full range of techniques Catherine employs in her work.

During the morning you will look at how to adapt source photos and colour schemes to suit the subject and paintings mood. You will develop a plan to ‘lock’ light in, and practice  wet-in-wet techniques to ‘lay down’ atmospheric paint layers to resemble sea and sky.

After lunch, students will look at brush handling techniques to deepen shaded areas for increased tonal variation, and unify through upper paint layers. You will increase sharp detail and strong boundaries and add subtle ‘lifted off’ marks that glow and develop detail. At the end, we will review composition and consider unifying layers and cropping.

Catherine has painted professionally for nearly thirty years and has specialised in watercolours for the last fifteen. She is an award-winning member of the Society of Women Artists and frequently demonstrates in London’s Mall Galleries. Her new watercolour landscape book ‘Capturing Light’ is published by Search Press and reached the top ten in Amazon’s bestseller list. It explores her particular range of watercolour techniques as part of their ‘Innovative Artist Series’ which will be explored in a range of articles in 2024 in The Artist Magazine. Catherine enjoys painting watercolour portraits and landscapes to commission and exploring the landscape for exhibition and teaching trips.