All breakout sessions will be on the Saturday of the Convention.
All sessions are 1.5 hours unless otherwise noted.
All sessions cost $15 unless otherwise noted. Sign up for and pay for your sessions when you register for the convention.
Supply lists for all breakout sessions are here.
Where “Video link available for purchase” is indicated: Video sessions are $15 per video. Links to the videos purchased will be sent to purchasers the week following the convention. Videos will be accessible for one month.
Note on rooms for breakout sessions: All room assignments are subject to change. Please visit the Hospitality Table when you arrive for the latest information.
9:00 – 10:30 AM Sessions:
| Juror Critique #1 Keiko Tanabe Multipurpose Room Video not available | Abstract or Simplify with ProCreate Ruth Armitage Civic Room Video link available | Painting Faces, Hair, and Fur Chris Stubbs Room 8 Video not available | Pen, Paper and Patterns Margaret Godfrey Room 3 Video link available |
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Sessions:
| Artist Booth 101 Elizabeth Zimmerman Civic Room Video link available | Watermedia on a DIY Canvas Rebecca Sentgeorge Room 3 Video link available | Discovering Your Artistic Voice (11:00 AM–1:00 PM, two hour session) Beth Verheyden Room 8 Video link available |
Lunch Break: 12:30 – 2:00 PM
2:00 – 3:30 PM Sessions:
| Juror Critique #2 Keiko Tanabe Multipurpose Room Video not available | Gold Leaf Sparkle Patty Schmidt Room 8 Video link available | Paint Like a Parisian Tara Choate Civic Room Video link available | Creating Brilliant Watercolors with a Nautical / Coastal Theme Michelle Myers Room 3 Video link available |
Note: Attendees of the afternoon breakout sessions will have until 4:00 pm to wind down, clean up, and pack up their supplies.
Session Descriptions
Abstract or Simplify with ProCreate
Ruth Armitage
9:00–10:30 am, Civic Room
Demo, $15 – No limit participants
Video link available for purchase.
No supply list.
How can you create a simpler or abstract painting from a photo? Join Ruth Armitage for a fun and stimulating session showing one process for moving your work toward more simplicity or abstraction.
Ruth will cover the key concepts of dominance, unity, contrast, composition and abstraction using her own paintings as illustrations. She’ll show some of her process using the ProCreate app on an iPad as an experimental tool. Participants can send photos ahead of time for possible use as examples.
Painting Faces, Hair, and Fur
Chris Stubbs
9:00–10:30 am, Room 8
Demo and Hands-On, $15 – Limit 25 participants
Video not available.
See supply list here.
Join Chris Stubbs for another exciting breakout session. Chris will demo and explain techniques for how to paint hair and fur. When it comes to hair, often when we try to paint it, it comes out looking like spaghetti—or a helmet on the person’s head. Chris will show you how to soften it, create highlights, and how to get rid of hard / helmet lines around the face.
Chris Stubbs said “In some ways, capturing the fur is one of the most challenging aspects of painting our wonderful friends. Often it ends up looking “spikey” when we paint it in watercolor. This past fall, I learned the secret of painting soft fur from AWS NWS artist Kathleen Giles which I will pass on to you.”
Breakout participants will get to try out the techniques shown, and as participants paint, Chris will walk around the room to provide helpful advice.
Pen, Paper and Patterns
Margaret Godfrey
9:00–10:30 am, Room 3
Demo and Hands-On, $15 – Limit 15 participants
Video link available for purchase.
See supply list here.
Create abstract art anywhere, anytime with pens, paper and patterns. This creative approach will be great for artists when traveling, staying in hotels and just for fun!
Join Margaret for this breakout session where she provides a demo and attendees get to have a hands-on experience.
Juror Critique #1
Keiko Tanabe
9:00–10:30 am, Multipurpose Room
Critique, $15 – Limit 20 Participants; No limit Auditors
Video not available.
No supply list.
Our juror and workshop instructor, Keiko Tanabe, will critique twenty images of water media paintings by WSO members. This critique session is an opportunity for input from a nationally known artist to learn how to improve a painting and what makes a painting stand out.
To have your image included in the critique session, sign up as a Participant. The participant slots go quickly, so be sure to sign up soon, or sign up as an Auditor to listen, watch, and learn!
Artist Booth 101
Elizabeth Zimmerman
11:00 am–12:30 pm, Civic Room
Lecture, $15 – Limit 15 participants
Video link available for purchase.
No supply list.
You may want to participate in events with your art but are paralyzed because you have no idea where and how to start. Come to Artist Booth 101 with Elizabeth Zimmerman to learn all the basics from tabletop displays to investing in walls to hang your art. Elizabeth has been attending shows since 2013 with her art booth. Starting with the most basic setup, she is now traveling out of state to display and sell her work. She will go over insurance, lighting, how to accept credit card payments, and more. She will show you how she sets up her booth and how she finds shows to apply for and attend. Are you ready to get out in person to display (and sell) your art?
Watermedia on a DIY Canvas
Rebecca Sentgeorge
11:00 am–12:30 pm, Room 3
Demo and Hands-On, $15 – No limit participants
Video link available for purchase.
See supply list here.
Join Rebecca Sentgeorge in a fun hands-on painting session while trying out two products, Arteza’s DIY Foldable Canvas and gel sticks.
In the first part of this hands-on session, Rebecca will explain what a DIY foldable canvas is, show examples, and demonstrate several ways to use Arteza’s DIY Foldable Canvas with watermedia, mixed media, and as a mounting substrate. She will introduce how she uses gel sticks and will provide loaner gel sticks for participants to play with. Rebecca will walk you step by step through the process of turning the substrate from a flat surface to a finished 3D canvas.
During the second part of the breakout session, attendees can play with their own small foldable DIY canvas, experimenting with abandon. Workshop participants will be supplied with the foldable canvas, loaner gel sticks, and optional reference photos of birds. You are welcome to bring your own reference material of any subject which can be painted in a one-hour session.
Come with the desire to try something new and leave with a finished piece. Bring your painting supplies and work in the medium of your choice (watercolors, gouache, pencils, crayons, acrylics, collage materials, etc.) on an Arteza DIY Foldable Canvas.
Discovering Your Artistic Voice
Beth Verheyden
11:00 am–1:00 pm, Room 8. Note: Two hour session
Demo and Hands-On, $15 – Limit 25 participants
Video link available for purchase.
See supply list here.
We artists have something important to say, but how do we communicate effectively so people can feel what we feel? It’s not what you paint but how you paint it that will communicate your feelings. Learn to make the right choices for your paintings using composition, color, value, line and edges so that you accurately express your feelings. This session will begin with a short power point presentation and painting demonstration by Beth, and then you will paint a simple monochromatic painting using your own choice of color to express a certain feeling. See the dynamic differences in mood by simply applying intentional color!
Juror Critique #2
Keiko Tanabe
2:00–3:30 pm, Multipurpose Room
Critique, $15 – Limit 20 Participants; No limit Auditors
Video not available.
No supply list.
Our juror and workshop instructor, Keiko Tanabe, will critique twenty images of water media paintings by WSO members. This critique session is an opportunity for input from a nationally known artist to learn how to improve a painting and what makes a painting stand out.
To have your image included in the critique session, sign up as a Participant. The participant slots go quickly, so be sure to sign up soon, or sign up as an Auditor to listen, watch, and learn!
Gold Leaf Sparkle
Patty Schmidt
2:00–3:30 pm, Room 8
Demo and Hands-On, $15 – Limit 25 participants
Video link available for purchase.
See supply list here.
Around a simple ginkgo leaf shape, learn how to add composition gold leaf for background sparkle, plus great tips. This technique also works with all metal leaf and with expensive but lovely 24 karat gold leaf (when you’ve become more practiced).
Paint Like a Parisian: 10 Tips from Paris Museums to Get Yourself Unstuck, Inspired, and Experimenting
Tara Choate
2:00–3:30 pm, Civic Room
Lecture and Hands-On, $15 – Limit 15 participants
Video link available for purchase.
See supply list here.
Accompany artist Tara Choate as she explores the museums of Paris, collecting ideas for her painting practice. From the Cluny to the Pompidou, participants will come away with a variety of ideas to explore in their own practice. This 90-minute session will be fast-paced and hands-on!
Creating Brilliant Watercolors in a Nautical / Coastal Theme
Michelle Myers
2:00–3:30 pm, Room 3
Demo and Hands-On, $15 – Limit 25 participants
Video link available for purchase.
See supply list here.
Enjoy the coastal surroundings while painting with Michelle Myers in the Pavilion.
In this breakout session, Michelle will guide you through glazing techniques that will enhance your watercolor paintings. Learn to keep your art crystal clear with transparent washes to create depth in your painting. Michelle will go over different equipment and types of paints, while creating some little vignette paintings depicting coast-related scenes.