Blog
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Love for Watercolor
Stefan Gadnell shares his love for watercolor through his art courses We’ve had the honor of speaking with one of our highly popular watercolor painters, Stefan Gadnell, who shares his journey from being an art teacher to holding painting courses on the Portuguese south coast. “Stefan has been accustomed to receiving praise for his drawings since childhood. With a mother who proudly displayed every picture he made and an elementary school teacher who allowed him to sit and draw in the art room during breaks. Encouraged by both his mother and his teacher during his upbringing, he later chose to pursue a degree in art education in Umeå, with a…
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Zangarelli Workshop – day 3
Roberto had a black and white picture featuring several tall buildings in front of a river with some boats closely packed together. We sketched, and then Roberto painted in stages, very effectively. After lunch, Roberto painted portraits with a warm and a cold side. It was a good exercise. Roberto also held a lottery for the watercolor he made, and Margaretha won it.
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Zangarelli Workshop – day 2
Today was more challenging. Roberto demonstrated a picture from Venice with two boats and a bridge with small people. He divided everything up, first we all sketched, and then Roberto applied the first layer, thinly on the buildings in the background so that we would do the same afterward. The painting was divided into sections, which meant that everyone finished roughly at the same time. In the same manner, he did with the picture of the boats that we painted after lunch. Time flew, and towards the end, he said we only had “3 minutes,” half-jokingly. Next day – day three
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Roberto Zangarelli in Cascais-day 1
In February 2024, we participated in an exciting workshop with Roberto Zangarelli in Cascais, Portugal. Roberto Zangarelli is a distinguished Italian watercolor artist and graphic illustrator from Rome, born in 1970. He has a distinct vision for watercolor painting based on three fundamental principles: atmosphere (representing the painting’s story), magic (stimulating curiosity), and risk (forcing the gesture). Zangarelli’s work has been exhibited in both Italian and international galleries, and he has collaborated with a range of art magazines. He has also illustrated covers for books on painting, worked with companies that produce watercolor paper, and launched his own set of brushes. Through his teaching in watercolor at the Association Aquarelle…
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Loose painting
Are you spending hours on a painting, but still unhappy with the result? Many painters, including myself, chase that elusive loose style that looks free and easy. In these four articles, I’ll share my approach to achieving it. First, let’s define loose painting. It’s like a patchwork of shapes, washes, and brush marks that come together to create the illusion of the subject. This simple sentence reveals how we use the medium, helps us observe our subject, guides our thinking while painting, and outlines the criteria for a successful artwork. Throughout these articles, I’ll walk you through the primary principles of watercolor, the foundation for any good painting, and the…
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ALVARO CASTAGNET In JÖNKÖPING
This summer we were invited to participate in a workshop in Jönköping with Alvaro Castagnet, fantastic, isn’t it, in Jönköping!! At first we thought it was a joke, but, no, he was going to hold a workshop there for two days. Julie Karlsson had arranged this in Folkuniversitet’s premises. My wife Margaretha and I thought it was exciting, and signed up. We gathered in Folkuniveristet’s premises, there were twenty of us, all enthusiastic about painting with Alvaro for two days. First a little talk and then he played a Jönköping motif. A picture he took the day before depicting a street corner with Konditori Bernard. First, Alvaro sketched, then a…
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Online Workshop with Alvaro Castagnet
At the beginning of November 2022 I found a notice about an online workshop with Alvaro Castagnet. It cost only $99 and you would get to paint online with Alvaro for four hours. He would start at 5 in the afternoon in Australia which meant starting at nine for me, and going until one in the morning, okay, a bit late for me, but it would work. A few days before the workshop, we received two photographs, this so that we could sketch the two motifs first. It’s good, but can sometimes be a bit tricky because it’s important where you place the different objects in the image. You have…
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COLORS AND BRUSHES
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COLORS AND BRUSHES
Hello watercolor friends,One question I often get before a workshop is what colors and brushes I use. Of course, it is personal which ones you prefer, but it can be good to know if you are going to participate in a workshop and want to try to do exercises fully. My tip is to buy good paint of good quality, they are more expensive and are more light-resistant, it will be cheaper in the long run. I use Schmincke Horadam, very good colors, at a good price (and I am not sponsored by them in any way). I do not have many different colors and could manage with fewer. An…
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Online Workshop with Alvaro Castagnet
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Joseph Zbukvic, day 5
Today we painted Girona. Joseph chose a bit up the river with the Eiffel red bridge and a church in the background. He worked for a long time with the many sunlit roofs. Here it is important not to make it monotonous, to vary all the time, both colors, strength and shapes. It’s a very difficult thing to paint this geyser of a house roof, it easily becomes just dots and spots. On the other side of the river, the buildings stretched all the way past us. Joseph chose to finish with a house wall. The dark wall looked very good at first, but apparently Joseph was not satisfied and…
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Joseph Zbukvic, day 4
Today we went by bus to Calella de Palafrugell. We went down to the beach. Joseph warned us about painting in the sun. It looks good when you paint, but when you see the picture at home, it will be way too dark. He unfolded his board, put a piece of iron wire there as support and got a small roof against the sun. Very clever. He painted the beach with boats both in the sea and on land. He was careful with one of the boats that was swaying. Joseph said that if you make one boat look good, the others will look good too. The boats on the…
