SAXTONS RIVER — Award-winning watercolor artist Robert O'Brien will offer a one-day workshop on “Painting the Many Moods and Facets of Water” at Main Street Arts on Saturday, June 10, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The workshop will focus on the many moods and facets of painting water in the watercolor medium. Participants will learn techniques from rendering a simple reflective puddle to a swift-moving mountain stream and everything in between.
Foreshortening and the ability to suggest a flat plane when painting a meandering river or lake will also be explored.
“Water provides the artist with an endless variety of interpretations given its reflective qualities as well as its restlessness,” O'Brien said in a news release.
Preregistration is required, at which time a materials list will be provided. The class will begin with a demonstration by O'Brien, followed by class painting and a final critique. Reference photos will be provided, and participants are encouraged to bring their own.
A full-time artist and instructor, Perkinsville resident O'Brien has been painting in watercolors for 40 years. He has received many awards, most recently the 2013 Best-in-Show at the Green Mountain Watercolor Exhibition in Waitsfield and the Academic Artists Award at the 63rd Academic Artists Association National Exhibition in Vernon, Conn. Examples of his work can be seen on his website, www.robertjobrien.com.
In describing his art, O'Brien says “One of my main objectives in watercolor painting is to create light through the use of shadow. In painting ordinary images, I find a fascinating interplay between the two. The transparency of the medium helps in bringing shadows alive while allowing the light to glow.”