What is Watercolours for Beginners Mind - A short course

A new Online Course by Susan Olij

What is Watercolour for Beginners Mind about

A beginners mind in the context of this course is an attitude to have when you’re learning anything new, that is where you’re more prepared to look silly, because you’re going to feel everything is odd and to embrace this lost, out of control feeling. You are filled with awkward feelings, you’ll probably be embarrassed most of the time, and its’ just overall that awkward state of being a beginner, which is also where a lot of learning and growth happens. 

So the very first step, as someone who’s creative, a beginner, an artist, a student, its useful to refer to some of these ancient teachings, in Taoism. Lao Tzu’s teaching talks about the concept of flexibility and having a beginners mind is the key to a long life, and augmented with the Greek concept of Eudaimonia, which is similar to the Tao Te Ching, it draws upon our ability to balance motivation, energy, and intention so what we’re doing actually brings us joy, that is to say Joy is a longer lasting feeling to the more transitory Happiness.  

So the idea about this course, is for you and me to wear a beginners mind, for just the length of the course, where like a child who’s seeing things for the first time, is beginning to explore, be fascinated by our curiosity and use this point of view to learn Watercolor painting.

In the first class, I will introduce you to Ultramarine Blue. This colour is a favourite of most watercolorist and plein air artists. Its origin can be traced back to Lapis Lazuli mines in Afghanistan, and when this rock is grinder to powder, it makes The Ultramarine or French Ultramarine colour. All manufacturer has this beautiful blue colour, and it’s probably the most popularly used colours either by itself or mixed with other colours. A commonly popular mix traditionally is to add Burnt Sienna, or in my case Burnt Umber to create a neat variety of darks and neutral greys. 

This is the first of a series of 6 blog articles for this online course series. Each blog article will cover the lessons I cover in my online class. Consider this to be the notes for the classes.

What you’re learning in the course:

Lesson 1. Paint Consistency

Lesson 2. Brush strokes and Time 

Lesson 3. Edge and Shapes 

Lesson 4. Colour - Primary & Secondary basics and beyond

Lesson 5. Monochrome and Thumbnails 

At the end of the 5 weeks course, my goal is that you’ll learn not only the basics of how this material works, and it’s intricate in and outs, but also the attitude to have so that you can create the best condition for learning that suits you.

The sessions are only 90 minutes long, the first hour is techniques demonstrations and trial and experiments, then the final 30 minutes we will attempt to apply the technique using an image reference. When the time is up, we will finish our paintings on our own and later share it in the group chat or Facebook group for further analysis. The purpose of a startup sketch-a-long is just like a proud mother bird, I want to let you fly your own way into the lessons you just learned. This way you can slowly trust your own instincts and discover the stumbling blocks you’re facing early.

The last and final class at week 5, will have an extra 30 minutes for critique and feedback where I will go over make a selection of your work, and give inputs for takeaways. So stay tuned till the end. The classes are limited to 15 students.

The dynamic of my classes (online or in-person) is the best when it is interactive, conversational, and less lecture-room-style where I am the only one talking. I really appreciate students active participations during the lesson. 

So I look forward to seeing you back here again soon.