Watercolor for Relaxation

Botanical Painting Workshop

Have you ever admired a dreamy watercolor illustration? Not only is watercolor easy to work with, but it can be a relaxing experience! Learn about May's Watercolor for Relaxation Paint Night here. Now on to a recap of our Botanical Watercolor for Relaxation Workshop! This event was a collaboration with Our Little Stand to promote relaxation through the creative process with inspiration for our small works drawn from their gorgeous plants found at their OC shops. Participants were thrilled with the included supplies they received which included a beautiful kit of Kuretake watercolor paints. 

Blue agave paintings by Hilary L Hahn

When Lang of Our Little Stand approached me about collaborating on some workshops, I knew I wanted to do something inspired by the lovely greenery they had at their artisanal stands. Even though social distancing kept us from meeting in person our live virtual class was a hub for creatives to connect and start their weekend by painting several small works of art! 

Every watercolor workshop begins with a short meditation designed to promote relaxation and tap into one's creative energy. We began with some deep breathing to encourage mindfulness and really take advantage of the incredibly calming act of painting with watercolors. We then moved on to a short warm up exercise of experimenting with watercolor washes and loosening up our brushstrokes.

Watercolor for Relaxation: Textile Pattern Paint Night

Blue agave painting via Sara Cohen

Next up, we began our first piece by lightly sketching out flowers and using both wet-on-wet and dry brush techniques to paint them in. Students were encouraged to freehand additional flowers and play with different colors to see the outcome. We had some beautiful results and our gallery view screen morphed into a meadow when everyone held up their work!

Those same watercolor techniques were then applied to our blue agave inspired paintings. These structural plants really allowed students to play with shape and composition. Everyone enjoyed mixing the soft blue-greens for this piece and the rich Kuretake palette was easy to work with. 

Interested in learning how to paint with watercolors? Or maybe you're looking for a creative outlet with a laid back atmosphere? Don't miss out, sign up for May's Watercolor for Relaxation Paint Night: Textile Patterns Explore beautiful colors and play with patterns inspired by textiles and rugs in this special evening workshop. Unwind and paint with us mid-week!

Paint textile inspired patterns on May 12th!

Our Spring Workshop series is out now- and there are limited spaces left in each workshop. Join us if you are ready to tap into your creativity.