Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society

Collage: Paper, Patterns and Glazing

Learn to create your own stamps, masks, stencils and papers for collage work.

Pattern and Form: Advanced Collage Techniques

Self expanatory

An Acrylic Journey: From Trash to Treasure and An Inward Look

Two widely dissimilar acrylic projects; first, simplifying a complex subject, and secondly, abstracting.

Watercolor and Collage

Clear, easy to follow instructions on how to integrate and combine collage into the watercolor process.

Exploring Watercolor: From Location to Studio

Students of all levels will learn how to move from a simple and quiet plein air beginning to a complex finished piece of nature artwork in the studio.

Traditional Watercolor Approach

Though he’s a man of many techniques, this DVD shows him using traditional watercolor methods.

Drawing: Learning Professional Techniques

Just the lessons you need to increase your confidence in your drawing skills, the basis of any art form.

Painting a Personal Reality in Watercolor

Check out Ratindra’s fresh, vibrant, energetic, unique...and not boring...style.

Designing Great Starts with Texture and Form

Forget about realism and tightness, Pat finds art in what comes up from her various unusual methods of getting started. Her DVD is jam-packed with information about working with watercolor, acrylics, inks, and all sort of collage media. This video will help you loosen up, conquer the fear of white paper, and create fresh and spontaneous paintings. Learn how to discover great "starts," using a viewfinder and a magazine, evoke the look of water, expand your texture-building toolkit, introduce the intensity of links and the versatility of collage into your watercolors. This is an abstract, non-objective approach to art.

Design with the Figure

Watch Polly's unique multifaceted & open-ended design approach as she develops & completes a painting. She discusses her design considerations from the interaction with models, contour drawings, figure placement & the meaning to the viewer, developing a background, manipulating dark & lightpatterns to achieve a strong visual statement, lifting lights, adding texture, exaggeration, distortion, the importance & creation of a variety of transitions & stamping. Plus Polly shares insights on subjects integral to being an artist including how to most benefit from critique groups. Polly'sapproach to design is applicable to any subject.

Acrylic Landscapes the Watercolor Way

You won’t see acrylics in the same light again.  Charles explains why he likes to use acrylics in a watercolor fashion.

Mastering Yupo, Synthetic Paper Techniques

George James, AWS DF, NWS has developed a process that promotes predictable results and a creative flexibility unheard of on regular watercolor paper. In this DVD George demonstrates his techniques for achieving variegated washes, smooth washes, lifting, ghosting, spattering, stamping, charging darks and lifting whites. He creates rich surface textures and luminous dark passages. George is generous with his knowledge and clearly explains the theory behind his every move. The viewer will understand how to anticipate and create desired effects.

Designing for Content: Yupo Master Class

Self explanatory...and mind-shifting.

Discovering Clean Color Combinations

Do your colors often turn to “mud”? Jim clarifies the process of being able to use multiple layers and still maintain brilliant colors.

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The Mysterious Juicy Wash: Demystified

A “how to” DVD on how to paint with juicy washes.

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Getting Started Right in Watercolor

For the beginning watercolorist: softening edges, washes, brushes, lifting, pallettes, papers, etc.

Landscape Essentials in Watercolor

A beginner-friendly workshop: where to start, what to include, sketching, design through dark and light shapes, convincing shadows, downplaying detail, etc.

Understanding Acrylics

Using a more traditional acrylic approach, Brent examines mediums and gels, when to use transparent/semi-transparent/opaque paints, mixing acrylics with water, mediums and white, etc.

Simple Tips to Great Texture

Self explanatory

Correction Techniques

Self explanatory

Figure Design in Gouche: The Process

A fascinating workshop centered on Carla’s unique process: “the set-up” divides space into intriguing shapes and relates the figure to the background; interlocking shapes, push-pull, unity, texture, transitions, visual paths, etc. A don’t miss!

Wet Glazing Watercolor Portrait

One of America’s great realist portraitists, Jean’s technique centers on endless layers of thin transparent pigments laid onto a detailed map of highlites, shadows and contours. Managing moisture is critical.

Watermedia Techniques: Watercolor and Gouache

Quiller explores the whys and hows of combining transparent watercolor and opaque gouache, both en plein air and in the studio.

Acrylic as Water Media

In this DVD, Quiller explores using acrylic in a watercolor style, combining transparent, semi-transparent and nearly opaque techniques.

10 Lesson Course

1)Setting Up 2)Brushwork & water-to-paint ratio 3)Using local color 4)Mixing colors & tying in cast shadows 5)Mixing greens 6)Contour drawing & green still life 7)Edges and emphasis 8)Composition & contour drawing 9)Large floral still life 10)Mixing triads & review of large still life

Portraits in Watercolor

Though filmed years ago (1988), this classic watercolor portraiture workshop offers many lessons to most levels of watercolorists.

Watercolor Rhythms with Figures

Rogers focuses on painting quickly with color and shapes to capture gesture and motion...”discovering the rhythms”. This will end your fussy attention to detail.

A Designed Approach to Abstraction

In this DVD, Salminen uses the language of design to build a complex layered abstraction. He explains the rationale for each step he makes, and verbalizes his composition and problem solving strategies.

Innovative Water Media

Want to loosen up? The unconventional Simmons creates award-winning works by incorporating blooming, crawl-backs, puddling, paper buckle, watercolor/fluid acrylic mixes, etc. See what his approach can do for you.

Van Hasslett, Tony

Watercolor Fun in Nature's Studio

Timid about trying on-location painting? Tony discusses equipment and pallette, selection of subject, importance of sketching, logistical porcedures, etc.

On Watercolor

A wealth of knowledge from a watercolor icon.

Mastering Watercolor Portraiture

Here we get to listen in on one of America’s greatest watercolor portraitist as she paints and explains why and how she works. Loaded with tips and techniques.

The You Factor:Powerful, Personal Design in Opague Watercolor

Keys to Donna’s method: Mold shapes and relationships to fit your vision; color relationships are critical; mix watercolors with white gouache to make corrections, solve design problems and achieve a complex layered effect.

Atmosphere and Mood in Watercolor

The talented Zbukvic paints en plein air around the world.