Mystic Mountains
A watercolour and mixed media adventure
“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.” - John Muir
There is something mystical about the mountains. They call us to adventure and to challenge ourselves, and also to find stillness and tranquility. Our experiences offer us inspiration and wisdom. In this class I’ll create artwork from my mountain adventures and invite you to do the same as you create small and magical artworks.
We will explore beautiful watercolour and mixed media techniques, focusing on an Element of Design in each lesson. You will paint a foggy mountain trees scene, create an art journal spread of a mountain memory, and make a small deck of mountain wisdom cards. Let me guide you with technical instructions, and encourage you to draw from your own experiences to personalize your projects. Capture both the imagery and feelings you get from spending time in the mystic mountains with these beautiful little projects.
I’m Nicole Warrington, an artist, nature lover, and teacher from Vancouver Island. I adore art-making and exploring the outdoors. In the busy years of early motherhood, I’ve become more creative with my time! My art has evolved to include art journaling and small scale painting projects, practices which I now enjoy sharing with my students.
Warm Up
Let’s get comfortable with our materials. In this warm-up lesson we will explore watercolours and water-soluble graphite, creating a mini reference deck of techniques. These techniques will guide you in all three projects.
Lesson 1: Foggy Mountain Trees
Begin your Mystic Mountain adventure with a meditative painting inspired by the foggy mountains of the Pacific Northwest. In this lesson you will learn about “Value” as you paint a mountain scene using watercolour and Lyra water-soluble graphite. We will practice wet-into-wet painting techniques, create atmosphere with an Isopropanol technique and paint expressive trees. We will finish the piece with a magical dusting of snow using iridescent watercolours and an acrylic paint pen. You will have a beautiful piece that is ready to frame!
Lesson 2: Keep Close to Nature's Heart
Art journaling is a beautiful way to capture and layer visual inspiration with our feelings and reflections of our experiences. This lesson begins with a guided audio prompt in which I will help you visualize one of your most memorable mountain experiences. Using “Colour” as your main inspiration, you will capture special details of the experience using writing, watercolour painting and drawing with markers and paint pens. You can add a finishing touch to your pages with a favourite mountain quote of your choosing or one from my collection.
Lesson 3: Mountain Wisdom Card Deck
What wisdom can you find in the mountains? In this lesson on miniature watercolour paintings, we will focus on “Line”, taking inspiration from the contour lines in topographical maps and also the lines of mountain-tops. You will bring together words inspired by the mountains with small paintings to create a personalized little wisdom deck. Wonderful things come in small packages!
In this class you will:
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Create atmospheric watercolour paintings using a variety of watercolour techniques
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Text length of individual points can be shorter or longer depending on your needs
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Learn how to paint with water-soluble graphite
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Combine water-soluble graphite with watercolour paints
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Create visual texture in watercolour with an Isopropanol technique
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Add a magical shimmer to your projects using iridescent watercolour paints
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Use three Elements of Art - Value, Colour, LIne - as focal points for your project
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Write freely in your art journal using inspiration from your own mountain travels
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Add details using acrylic paint pens and markers
This class is for...
... any mountain-lover who wants to bring an expressive and abstract approach to their painting and journaling. If you’re a busy person who wants to make space for your creativity, then you will love this class. You will create soft and serene yet quietly powerful pieces in three unique projects.