March 2026

For four intense days last week I painted a slew of watercolors in a workshop by Eric Wiegardt. The workshop took place in Long Beach, WA, where the weather outside the conference room was constant rain and wind. That just helped us concentrate on the demos and our paintings.

Each morning and afternoon Eric painted a demonstration painting. Then all sixteen of us students tried to copy his work. By the second day, all of us were laughing together as we flailed around with our brushes.

The first day Eric painted a marsh with trees behind it. A good design, he says, requires us to simplify what we see. Starting with a value study using a heavy pencil, he demonstrated how the shapes should be interlocking pieces. He advises that a painting should need no more than three values; five at the most. This helps catch the eye at a distance and draw it to the painting. He often starts his painting with the middle values because that’s where most of the color mixing can be done. It’s easier to judge how dark the dark areas should be after your mid-values are in. It’s also easier to adjust the sky colors to the rest of the painting if it goes in last. His painting (below) was full of light and energy.

When I tried the same scene, my painting lacked the vibrancy and interest of Eric’s. But I got the general idea.

On the second day, Eric painted a scene from Beard’s Hollow in the nearby Cape Disappointment State Park. This time he started with the dark colors first. That way your darks can be more vibrant, he says, and you can leave flecks of white in them. He paints intuitively, from the right brain, as he moves through the painting process. He tries to not be analytical but just “feels his way through the painting”. When he gets near the end, he will sense some hesitation and he says that’s the sign that he’s slipping into his analytical left brain and it’s time to stop. He comes back later to see if it needs more work.

The bluffs above the beach overlooked a small creek flowing into the ocean. I liked his addition of stylized brush strokes in the beach sand.

On the third day Eric painted a bouquet of flowers. He wet the paper slightly and used a big brush to block in the general flower shapes, allowing the colors and shapes to run together. Later he came in with dark colors and details to provide definition to the flowers. Eric says, “Keep it abstract as long as possible.” In other words, don’t be too quick to put the details in. Concentrate on the large abstract shapes first, then add details near the end.

I was pretty happy with my floral painting. I borrowed a very large mop brush from Eric and used it to lay in some big juicy flower shapes. Eric helped me by suggesting that I remember to add warm greens to the foliage. (You can see my painting of the bouquet at the top of this post)

On Friday, our last day, Eric painted a street scene from a photo he took in Honfleur, France, while leading a workshop there. Again he started with large, flowing abstract shapes like the buildings, the boat shapes, and the background behind the people. He vaguely painted in figure shapes allowing the colors to run between them. Only at the end did he carve out the figures, leaving them largely undefined. This gives a feeling of movement in a busy street scene.

I followed suit, but the background behind my figures got pretty muddy. Still, I like the general affect.

Overall, the workshop was very stimulating for me. I especially enjoyed the camaraderie of the group, and our conversations over lunch at a nearby restaurant. But after four days of intense concentration on painting, I was ready to come home and sleep in my own bed.