Workshop Reviews Jan Thomson's watercolor birds

By Julie Toth

I thoroughly enjoyed Jan Thompsons watercolor bird workshop in Wellington. On our first day, we covered Jans four basic building blocks for painting: shape, value, colour and edge. We practiced beaks and feet and had a chuckle about the possibility of hiding the feet!

In the afternoon we chose a bird and three colours for some practice. Towards the end of the first day, we painted Flamingo heads in all sorts of fabulous pinks and oranges.

On day two, we were asked to come with images of four different birds. Jan suggested we paint a portrait, a black and white, a flying, and a coloured bird.

We were taken through the process from beginning to end with demonstrations. I found this really useful. One of the many great tips was to start with the eye, where the darkest and lightest point of the painting is likely to be. Jans warm teaching style made the weekend a real treat. She has a vast knowledge and catered to all skill levels with a well-paced, fun weekend. Id happily attend another of Jans courses.


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