Watercolor Workshop with Anita Lehmann
Watercolor Workshop
with Anita Lehmann
Carla Sonheim Presents: Anita Lehmann
Painting with watercolor has its challenges and in this class Anita shares her “cut-to-the-chase” techniques for making vibrant and expressive pieces. This is a must-have class for your mixed media toolbox… and forever access means you can go back to it whenever you want!
Watercolor Workshop
Instructor: Anita Lehmann
7 Video Lessons + a Special Zoom Session!
Dear Creative Adventurers:
In seven creative sessions we will develop an understanding of transparent watercolor, discover its characteristic four variables and work with the beauty of the paint. Whenever I work with watercolor I am excited to see where the paint takes me!
Painting with watercolor has its challenges, and in this class I’ll share “cut-to-the-chase” techniques for making vibrant and expressive pieces. We will try to eliminate some of watercolor’s challenges: muddy paint, weak colors, paintings overworked, feeling a lack of control, or too many colors to manage. These step-by-step lessons begin with getting comfortable with your tools: paint, water, a few brushes and paper. We will investigate properties of color, color strategies and working with color’s key partner “value.” Awareness in watercolor’s four variables will be presented to simply break down the thinking process while painting: wetness, composition, value and color.
A must-have class for your mixed media toolbox… The adventure begins. Let’s paint!
Anita
This class includes:
- 7 video lessons + a Special Zoom Session!;
- Unlimited access to all the teaching materials of this class;
- The ability to watch the class at your pace, at the time you choose, as often as you want. You can watch it from your computer, but also from your tablet or phone. So you can also take this course while on holiday!
- Access to the class forum
- Forever access; Lessons are prerecorded and are available immediately upon signup.
This class is only available for customers
outside United States & Canada
If you live in The United States or Canada, please visit www.carlasonheim.com to purchase this class
Price:
USD 72 (Outside EU)
EUR 79,50 (EU incl 21% VAT)
Class Itinerary
Lesson 0: Supplies
Hello + Welcome. Brushes, paints, colors, papers, oh my. Time to set up. Squeeze out those colors (a lot). Get organized. Get ready to paint and “fall in.”
Lesson 1: Watercolor Samplers, Marks and Washes
Let’s make marks and experiment with creative brush strokes. The many washes, blends, splatter, and glazes are great to practice — every day — until you are familiar. The hot and cold press papers present different outcomes. See which you prefer. Use the water to clean your brush, mostly. Remember small ‘water’ and big ‘COLOR’.
Lesson 2: A Color Wheel, Color mixing and expanding your palette
We are set to go with color. Mixing, blending and folding are the actions here. Let’s play with your warm colors: Ultramarine Blue, Vermillion Red, Nickel Azo Yellow, and cool palette: Cerulean Blue (Colbalt Blue option), Quinacridone Rose, Aureolin Yellow and see the endless value and color combinations. A color wheel introduction with Color Mixing will give us primary and secondary colors, beautiful and so simple. Discovering neutrals by mixing complements is rewarding and eye-opening. Obtaining darks in watercolor is key. These lessons are great to repeat a few times. Each time you will become more familiar with water vs. color proportions. Did I mention, (small) water– (big) COLOR? Let’s make this about color.
Lesson 3: Value: the worker bee + a few Edges + Wetness
Meet your new best friend: value. In this lesson, we will re-discover ‘value’, one of the four key variables in watercolor. This value scale will be mixed, keeping in mind skim milk, whole milk + yogurt paint proportions, working from light to dark. This new friend, your value scale, can partner with you always whenever you are creating watercolor paintings. Another key variable in watercolor is edges/wetness: discovering hard and soft and rough edges, when to have either or more? Each time I place my brush my onto the paper, am I wishing for a soft or hard edge? How wet is my paper and how wet is my brush? Did I let the paper dry? How dry? How wet?
Lesson 4: Skies: Atmosphere and Light
Let’s create an atmosphere, a place in time. At times I call this the ‘Tinkerbell’ light of the painting. Typically, I work from light to dark and ask myself, ‘What mood/feeling’ do I want in this painting, be it a landscape or still life. Skies and backgrounds can certainly create a mood: dramatic, quiet, soft, windy, morning or evening. Create 4-6 emotive, atmospheric works evoking light and feeling.
Lesson 5: Value in the Landscape and a few tree shapes
More about Value. Let’s put these concepts together: shapes, edges, values, skies: You are painting with gusto, now. In painting trees, I am always switching to my right side of my brain and think ‘tree – shape’, be it conifer, deciduous, oval, vertical, orchard trees etc. Thinking is shapes, keep you staying abstract as long as possible, and so important in art practice. Let it become a tree or collection of tree-shapes on its own. With a bit of practice, this will happen. Saying less, with a fewer strokes, please. Then add those very few key marks to define. Less is more.
Lesson 6: Color Strategy + Limited Palette in the Landscape
It so important to have a select color strategy in which to begin a painting. This process simplifies your choices, but also conveys a ‘mostly’ in color, as well as a feeling/mood in the artwork. Our first approach is an Analogous painting; those colors next to each other on the color wheel. Study your color wheel and locate the colors you wish to use in this first painting. Stay strict to your choices. I love this process, as I can focus more on ‘painting’ and fall into my right-brain more readily. Follow your initial, value study landscape for clues discovered in that painting for this exercise. Our second approach will be a Warm/Cool Painting. Your warm-cool color choices are opposites in the color wheel. Additionally, in this painting strategy, define a ‘Mostly’ and stick with it: mostly warm or mostly cool? Again, stay strict to your choices. Review each painting strategy. Which do you prefer?
Lesson 7: The Watercolor Variables: Wetness/Edges + Composition + Value + Color
Now we will combine these past six lessons and paint a still life, an easy set-up with simple shapes: I used flowers and a vase on a table. We’ll start with a watercolor variable study and divide our paper into the four separate design fields. Label each and begin the process of breaking down in diagram the checklist of watercolor concepts: Wetness/Edges, Composition, Value and Color. Then we will put it all together for your final painting.
Special Zoom Session
In December 2025 we did a re-run of this class and we held a special live Zoom session with Anita. The recording of that session has been added to this class as an extra bonus lesson!
“BEST watercolor class I have ever had the good fortune to take”
“Anita’s instruction has helped me achieve something that felt impossible: painting a moonlit sky!”
“This has been a great class and a big jump diving into watercolor. ”
Instant and unlimited access
This gives you the opportunity to watch the class at your own pace, whenever you want, as often as you want. You can view it from your desktop, but also from your tablet or smartphone in a browser.
Nuts & Bolts
– Lessons are prerecorded and are instantly available.
– You will have forever access to the class videos and materials!
Community
You will get access to Carla Sonheim’s private Facebook community that goes with this class, where you can meet other students, ask questions, share your results and receive valuable feedback on your work.
SUPPLIES NEEDED This is Anita’s preferred setup, but you can benefit from the class without these exact items. Please email Anita directly at [email protected] if you have any questions about supplies! Full Supply List • Artist palette • Butcher tray, enamel • Pencils • Eraser: kneaded and white • 2 water jars • Paper towels • Sponge • Hole punch • Artist tape ½” +/or paper tape (post-it tape) • Color wheel: I like this one https://www.colorharmonywheel.com, but any kind will do. Paper: • 2 -3 sheets each of hot press (Saunders 140#) and cold press (Arches 140#), 22″x30″. No blocks, please. Painting tubes: warm and cool and neutral palette, professional grade paints please • Cool: Cerulean Blue (Colbalt Blue option), Quinacridone Rose, Aureolin Yellow • Warm: Ultramarine Blue, Vermillion Red, Nickel Azo Yellow Neutral: Indigo, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna Brushes: not all mandatory, what I have collected and used. • ½” flat • ¾” flat • 1″ flat • 1½” angled flat wash: Princeton • 1″ angled flat wash • Scroggy Loose Goose, 2 -3 different sizes • Fun Brush(es): Skipper https://www.cheapjoes.com/cheap-joe-s-scroggy-s-loose-goose-dagger-striper-3-brush-set.html • Alvaro # 8 or #10 Alvaro Mop: 7mm: • DaVinci #80 flat or similar Optional: • Drawing board • Bull dog clips
Class Content
About Instructor
+23
enrolled
Class Includes
- 9 Lessons