Painting the Colors of Winter

Over President's Day weekend, John Adams, a Northwest watercolorist, led a 2-day watercolor course at the new Ecology Classroom at the Basecamp. The course introduced art into the classroom for the first time! With the sun streaming in the windows, it was a perfect Saturday morning for painting.

John's demonstration

John demonstrated his favored method of painting where he gracefully representing trees near and far and a looming mountain with few simple strokes. Instead of using cool blues, purples and turquoise to represent our chilly winter landscape, I was surprised to find John's brush dipped in the warm tones of alizarin crimson, cadmium red and yellow.

 Most participants painted a similar scene using John's techniques, but each piece reflected the personal style of each painter. It was a beautiful way to start the long weekend and gave inspiration to each of us to continue learning and painting through the end of winter!