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A painting of a mountain in shades of deep blue, surrounded by paints and paintbrushes.

Monochromatic Landscapes

Explore the Range of a Single Pigment with Claire Giordano

Online Workshop

Join us Saturday, June 3rd, from 10am-12:30pm Pacific for Monochromatic Landscapes with Claire Giordano. Together, we will explore the magic of painting with a single pigment and learn to paint an iconic Pacific Northwest mountain with a single color.

In this workshop, artist Claire Giordano will guide participants through the painting process with step-by-step instructions and tips. Claire made her first monochromatic painting years ago and says, “Working with just one color taught me so much about how watercolor works and has completely transformed how I approach the medium. I love teaching this workshop because sharing the magical possibilities of color and value is so much fun.”

We will dive into different techniques like creating atmospheric skies, Claire’s go-to methods for painting snow and rock, simplifying a scene through a sketch, creating a feeling of depth in a landscape, understanding value, and painting distant trees! Artists of all levels are welcome!

Not currently scheduled

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Recommended Supplies

  • Watercolor Paints

    A single dark colored pigment. Dark blues, grays, and blacks work the best.

    Claire will be using Indanthrone Blue from Daniel Smith (her other favorite dark pigment is Neutral Tint). Make sure you also have a space to mix the pigment on, such as the top of a palette or an old white plate.

    • Watercolor Brushes

      • A round brush with a fine tip.
      • Claire likes a #10 round made by Grumbacher, but most synthetic brushes made for watercolor will work similarly. Some folks might enjoy having a smaller brush and a larger round or flat brush for washes.
      • Watercolor Paper

        Any paper made “for watermedia” will work, but a cotton paper will be the easiest to work with for some of the techniques.

        For this class, Claire will be creating a painting that is 8x10 inches in size (you can work smaller or larger!) on Arches cold press paper. It is also nice to have scratch paper for the techniques practice session (the Canson XL watercolor paper is a really affordable practice paper).

        • Cup for water
          • Pencil and eraser
            • Paper towel or rag: to wipe and dry the paint brushes on
              • Optional: hairdryer

                What to expect

                Art Toolkit workshops are live events that take place on Zoom. During the workshop, you will have a chance to ask the instructor questions. After the workshop, we’ll provide you with a link to a recording to review on your own time (viewable for at least six months).

                We’ll be in touch a week before the workshop with instructions for connecting and additional information. Please remember to adjust for your time zone. Tickets are non-refundable, but we may be able to transfer your ticket to another student if there is a waitlist.

                We present our workshops with automated captions. If you wish to request additional accommodations, please let us know in advance.

                Curious about tickets, technical details, gifting workshops, or anything else? Please see our frequently asked questions page for more details, and please don’t hesitate to contact us for help.

                Portrait of watercolor artist Claire Giordano.

                About Claire

                Claire Giordano is an environmental artist, writer, and educator creatively exploring the interwoven patterns of people, place, and climate change. In her interdisciplinary work Claire strives to create visual and virtual spaces that foster connections between individuals and our warming world. Claire is also the founder of the Adventure Art Academy, where she teaches immersive virtual art classes filmed on her hiking adventures.

                You can see more of Claire’s work on her website, on Instagram, and in these Art Toolkit live demos.