February 12, 2025

Winter Workshop Participants Share Their Art

From mountain landscapes to urban brownstone façades and color exploration, see what participants created this winter!

By The Art Toolkit Team

A colorful abstract painting featuring concentric, spiraling shapes in a variety of tones including red, yellow, blue, green, and brown. The watercolor technique creates soft blends and textures.

We want to thank our wonderful instructors, Gavin Snider, Claire Giordano, and Maria Coryell-Martin for leading workshops this winter! Enthusiastic participants from each workshop shared their art with us, and we hope you enjoy peeking into these past workshops by way of their sketches. Stay tuned to our newsletter and Workshops page for the next series announcement, and browse our archive of workshop recordings, which include these workshops below!

Watercolor Fundamentals with Maria Coryell-Martin

With an emphasis on practice and fun, this series explores the fundamentals of watercolor, including color mixing, brushwork, value, glazing, landscape elements, and composition.

Colorful abstract watercolor art featuring horizontal stripes in various hues, including pink, purple, blue, and green, with intricate patterns and shapes resembling flowers and waves.
Brushstroke practice by Laurie M.
Abstract watercolor artwork featuring a spiral design with vibrant colors like red, yellow, blue, and gray. The colors blend and interact, creating a fluid and dynamic composition.
Color mixing spiral by Lynne B.

Following the first session, Maria shared a page of Nature Spots from a weekend trip to Seattle.

A watercolor palette featuring eight circular color swatches labeled with their names. The top row includes Sky Color, Tree Slope, The Water, and Distant Mountains. The bottom row features Ferry Green, Ferry Yellow, Orange Sled, and Safety Orange. Handwritten notes on the right highlight a beautiful day and mention views toward Kingston.
A ferry floats on calm waters, with distant islands and trees lining the horizon under a clear sky.

Register for Recorded Access to Watercolor Fundamentals: Dive into Watercolor Painting with Maria Coryell-Martin, and visit Maria’s website to see her artwork and creative offerings.

Brooklyn Brownstones with Gavin Snider

Gavin Snider kicked off our latest season of online workshops with an introduction to painting Brooklyn’s iconic brownstone façades. Together, Gavin and his participants practiced building up a painting from light to dark, carving out a city scene with increasing detail. In painting, Gavin believes it’s important to harness the unexpected and go straight to the blank page, embracing the idea that you’re not really creating a painting, you’re documenting an experience.

A watercolor illustration of a brick building with large bay windows, set against a bright sky. Trees with green leaves frame the scene, and a few people are gathered on the sidewalk nearby.
Brownstone sketch by Rachel J.
Watercolor illustration of a brownstone building in Brooklyn, featuring large windows and a prominent tree in front. A person walks a dog along the sidewalk.
Brownstone sketch by Lynne B.
A watercolor painting depicting a sunlit street scene with multi-story brownstone buildings. Green leaves from nearby trees provide dappled shadows on the facades, while a white statue and park benches are in the foreground.
Brownstone sketch by Lana S.
A watercolor painting of a street scene featuring a brownstone building with large windows and ornate details. A person walks by with a dog, and trees with green leaves frame the composition. Soft light creates a warm atmosphere.
Brownstone sketch by Maria Coryell-Martin—made while moderating!

Register for Recorded Access to Brooklyn Brownstones: Explore Cityscapes in Color with Gavin Snider and visit Gavin Snider’s website to see his artwork and creative offerings.

A hand holds a paintbrush, applying watercolor to a blank canvas featuring a partially painted brownstone building. Surrounding the canvas are an open watercolor palette, tubes of paint, and a photograph of the same brownstone. A completed watercolor painting of the building is visible on the right.
(1) Gavin lays down the first layer of paint on his brownstone painting; (2) Gavin’s finished painting.

Thank you, Gavin, for bringing your clear explanations and sharing about the crossover between your architectural and artistic backgrounds! Watch a recording of his City Sketching live demo from February, 2024 with Art Toolkit below to get a feel for his style.

Monochromatic Landscapes with Claire Giordano

In Claire’s workshop, participants explored values by using a single pigment to paint Washington State’s beautiful Glacier Peak. Claire walked participants step-by-step through painting a landscape, embracing a spirit of experimentation rather than rigid expectations. We practiced water control with minimal supplies while demonstrating how a single pigment could be used to create diverse landscape elements, from atmospheric skies and water reflections to detailed trees and rocks.

A serene black and white watercolor landscape featuring a snow-capped mountain reflected in a calm lake, surrounded by dark evergreen trees. The sky is overcast, enhancing the monochromatic mood.
Mountain sketch by Stephanie.
A serene landscape featuring a snow-capped mountain reflected in a calm lake, surrounded by dark silhouettes of coniferous trees against a soft blue sky.
Mountain sketch by Lorraine.

We loved seeing what everyone created during her workshop, all with a single pigment, and wanted to give a shout-out to Lorraine and Stephanie for sharing their paintings with us—Maria even managed to sketch along while moderating!

A serene landscape showcasing a snow-capped mountain against a clear blue sky, reflecting in a tranquil lake with a backdrop of dark green pine trees.
Moderator Maria Coryell-Martin even managed to sketch along!

Register for Recorded Access to Monochromatic Landscapes: Explore the Range of a Single Pigment and visit Claire Giordano’s website to see her artwork and creative offerings.

Recorded Access: Art Toolkit Workshops

Register for workshops and learn at your own pace! All of the workshops above are available via Recorded Access. Learn more on our Workshops page. If you are looking for free resource, we invite you to browse our archive of live demos for creative inspiration this season.

We always love to see what you make during our workshops, so tag us on socials @ArtToolkit!
An artist sites on a rock, dipping a paintbrush in a Pocket Palette.

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