Watercolour for Absolute Beginners - with Karen Holloway

Learn to paint with watercolour! Try this fun, absolute beginners' painting class with Karen Holloway.

About the course:

In this one-day, intensive drawing workshop participants will be introduced to some basic skills and tips for watercolour painting such as:

 Watercolour fundamentals

• How watercolour works (pigment, water, paper)

• Understanding transparency and layering

• How much water to use — the key to successful washes

Essential techniques

• Flat washes

• Graded/gradient washes

• Wet-on-wet

• Wet-on-dry

• Softening edges

• Lifting pigment to fix mistakes or create highlights

Tools & materials

• How to choose brushes, paper and paints

• How to mix colours on the palette vs on the paper

• How to keep colours clean and avoid muddy mixes

Colour basics

• Simple colour mixing

• Creating light and shadow with limited colours

• Understanding values (light vs dark)

Simple exercises & a small finished piece

This course is for beginners who are interested in learning to paint, with a focus on nature and watercolour. Participants will leave with the ability to confidently begin drawing and can then consider taking further steps with their art skills.

• Dates: 1 February 2026
  
• Time: Sunday 9.30am - 3.30pm
  
• Location: NatureArt Lab, M16 Artspace, 21 Blaxland Crescent, Griffith, ACT

Pre-requisites: This course is suitable for 16+ beginners with little to no painting experience, or for those wishing to build on the foundations of their watercolour practice.

Materials:  A list of materials will be sent upon enrolment.  Please check your JUNK and SPAM folders if you haven't seen this email within 2 days. Any questions can be directed to info@natureartlab.com.au

About the tutor:

Karen Holloway is a Canberra based botanical and mixed-media artist with a background in design and applied science. She combines her love of nature, patterns and surface decoration with keen observation honed by many years working as a paper conservator to create fresh, loose artworks with a vintage sensibility.

Karen is an enthusiastic advocate for using art and observation to connect with nature regardless of age or skill level. She encourages students to enjoy investigating different techniques and mediums to embrace the beauty of nature and explore their own passion for the natural world. 

NatureArt Lab Awards

• 2022, Telstra Best of Business Award for Promoting Sustainability, ACT Winner and National Finalist
• 2024, Telstra Best of Business Award for Building Communities, ACT Winner and National Finalist

Image by Karen Holloway