2023 Chan Dissanayake: "Watercolour paintings should look gutsy!"
These were some of the first words from Brisbane artist, Chan Dissanayake at the beginning of four exhilarating and yes exhausting days says member Jan Pryor. Chan is a very fine artist. He is also a wonderful teacher. Those two characteristics dont always go together. His art speaks for itself; he is also knowledgeable, clear in his teaching, and funny. He started each day with theory. His discussions of washes, clouds, composition, shadows and reflections, edges, water/pigment ratios, characteristics of colour, drying times, light (I hadnt heard of ambient occlusion before!) were masterly. Each day he went on to demonstrate his theory in his painting.
David Rodrigues attended Chans second workshop: He has read widely and thought deeply about watercolour painng. He brought his thorough, analytical approach into passing on his expertise. As a fellow IT person, I really enjoyed the clear, succinct explanations of the effects of water on paint and water on paper. These were interspersed with some very funny anecdotes about interacting with the public during outdoor painting sessions. Watercolour is a medium which rewards risk.
Chan encouraged us to paint more loosely but that is not to say that paintings were created haphazardly. Thorough planning occurred prior to paint being unleashed on paper.
Both reviewers were very enthusiasc about the workshops: If I incorporate even a quarter of his wisdom into my painting I will be a better painter, writes Jan.
Reviewers:
Jan Pryor and David Rodrigues
Weekend Workshop 2225 June 2019
DURING AN ACTION-PACKED four-day workshop Chan took a group of painters of very varied experience through eight paintings to demonstrate and practise watercolour skills with a focus on edge control and design.
His eight brief theory sessions were memorable for their content and clear illustrations, and his painting technique was mesmerising and inspirational.
Chan is a hands-off tutor who has faith that everyone can learn to paint well with enough hard work and that each painter is their own best teacher, so there were no critiques of work. He describes himself as a tonal painter and the source material was tonal rather than colourful, which encouraged a focus on managing tone in our work.
He used projected photographs as source images. These were sometimes dauntingly detailed but he then demonstrated how to use those images as a starting point which he changed and edited using design principles to create works of art. As a relatively inexperienced watercolour painter, I found this workshop a profound learning experience.
Pam Darling
