Painting the Dynamic Landscape — Light, Atmosphere & Expression

Painting the Dynamic Landscape — Light, Atmosphere & Expression

Class | Available (Membership Required)

37 Buena Vista Road West Hartford, CT 06107 United States
Clubhouse
Intermediate
9/8/2026-10/27/2026
6:00 PM-8:30 PM EDT on Tue
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$200.00
$180.00

Painting the Dynamic Landscape — Light, Atmosphere & Expression

Class | Available (Membership Required)

Theme: Painting the Dynamic Landscape — Light, Atmosphere & Expression
Painting the Dynamic Landscape invites students to explore the expressive possibilities of watercolor through a series of engaging landscape projects. Over 8 weeks, participants will develop essential watercolor techniques—including transparent washes, layering, atmospheric perspective, expressive brushwork, and color harmony—while painting mountains, coastlines, forests, wildflower meadows, urban scenes, winter landscapes, and botanical studies. Emphasizing composition, light, mood, and storytelling over fine detail, students will build confidence in creating dynamic, expressive paintings and conclude the course with a personalized final landscape that reflects their own artistic style.

Week 1 — Foundations: The Landscape as a Story

Project: Mountain Valley / Rolling Hills Landscape

Focus: Seeing and simplifying the landscape

  • Materials overview (paper, brushes, pigments, palette setup)
  • Understanding watercolor’s transparency and flow
  • The 3-wash approach:
    1. Large transparent color wash (atmosphere + mood)
    2. Middle-value forms (landscape structure)
    3. Opaque/detail accents (focal points)

Techniques:

  • Wet-into-wet skies
  • Soft atmospheric edges
  • Basic value studies
  • Thumbnail sketches for composition

Goal: Students create a simple landscape with strong composition rather than focusing on details.

Week 2 — Coastal Landscapes: Movement & Energy

Project: Ocean Cliff / Rocky Shoreline

Focus: Capturing movement in nature

Concepts:

  • Creating depth with overlapping shapes
  • Horizon placement
  • Painting water reflections
  • Using negative space

Techniques:

  • Wet-on-dry edges
  • Dry brush for rocks and texture
  • Layering transparent blues and earth tones
  • Creating waves with reserved white space

Goal: Learn how to make water feel alive and dynamic.

Week 3 — Trees & Forests: Shape, Rhythm & Color

Project: Woodland Path / Autumn Forest

Focus: Painting organic forms

Concepts:

  • Trees as shapes, not objects
  • Creating depth through temperature shifts
  • Warm vs. cool color relationships

Techniques:

  • Scumbling foliage
  • Dry brush bark textures
  • Layering greens without using “tube green”
  • Atmospheric perspective

Goal: Build believable forests through value and color rather than detail.

Week 4 — Floral Landscape: Wildflower Meadow

Project: Meadow with Wildflowers and Background Landscape

Focus: Combining landscape and botanical elements

Concepts:

  • Flowers as accents, not the entire subject
  • Creating focal points
  • Balancing chaos and control

Techniques:

  • Loose floral washes
  • Splattering
  • Negative painting
  • Lifting techniques
  • Combining soft backgrounds with sharper foreground details

Goal: Create a landscape where flowers enhance the story.

Week 5 — Urban Landscape: Light, Architecture & Atmosphere

Project: New England Town / City Street Scene

Focus: Painting man-made environments

Concepts:

  • Perspective basics
  • Simplifying architecture
  • Using light to create mood

Techniques:

  • Atmospheric washes
  • Hard vs. soft edges
  • Reflections in windows and pavement
  • Opaque accents for details

Goal: Learn how to paint places with personality and atmosphere.

Week 6 — Seasonal Landscape: Snow, Fog & Quiet Moments

Project: Winter Landscape / Misty Morning

Focus: Mood and restraint

Concepts:

  • Limited palettes
  • Painting light
  • Creating emotional landscapes

Techniques:

  • Soft wet washes
  • Lifting highlights
  • Layering subtle values
  • Using warm/cool contrast

Goal: Show that less detail can create a stronger painting.

Week 7 — Floral Study: Dramatic Botanical Composition

Project: Peonies, Garden Flowers, or Wild Botanical Arrangement

Focus: Bringing landscape skills into floral painting

Concepts:

  • Large shapes first
  • Designing the composition
  • Creating depth within flowers

Techniques:

  • Transparent flower washes
  • Opaque watercolor accents
  • Layered petals
  • Texture techniques
  • Expressive brushwork

Goal: Create a finished floral piece using landscape principles.

Week 8 — Final Project: Personal Landscape Painting

Project: Student Choice / Signature Landscape

Focus: Developing personal style

Students choose:

  • Landscape
  • Floral landscape
  • Urban scene
  • Personal reference photo
  • Plein air study

Process:

  • Thumbnail planning
  • Color palette design
  • Preliminary drawing
  • First wash
  • Development layers
  • Final details and corrections


    • Instructor Douglas Fortin

    • WATERCOLOR SUPPLY LIST


      Paint


      Typically I recommend Holbein, Daniel Smith, or Windsor Newton for watercolor paint brands. 


      French Ultramarine Blue

      Cobalt Blue

      Cadmium Yellow medium

      Yellow Ochre

      Burnt Sienna

      Burnt Umber

      Cadmium Red

      Permanent Alizarin Crimson


      Paper


      The most important aspect of this technique is using a rough or cold pressed watercolor paper. Arches, Saunders Waterford, or Windsor Newton works, as long as it has a rough texture/cold pressed. 



      Brushes


      Mop brush, size 14 or 18  (for washes and skies)


      Squirrel mop brush, size 0 or 2 (for trees and texture)


      Synthetic watercolor brush size 8, 10, and 12


      Other supplies


      Pencil, sketchbook, atomizer (small spray bottle), water cup, masking tape, and something to mount your watercolor paper to if you are not using a watercolor block. Corrugated plastic, or a hard board works fine for this, paper towels, and a regular sponge.