Ornamental Watercolor Online Class May 11

Ornamental Watercolor Online Class
Saturday, May 11, 1-4:30pm MT
Instructor: Lexis Krieg
Limit: 15 students. Includes class kit + shipping
To receive your kit in time for class, register by May 4. All participants must be 15 years or older.

Class Details

Dive into the magical medium of watercolor! This class is led by Lexis Krieg, a Denver-based artist who’s known for her joyful, vibrant colors and intricate linework. Both are evident in her class samples, which remind us of exotic ornamental tiles. With their layers and layers of color and interlocking pen patterns, it’s hard to parse out exactly how she created them. Though they’re visually complex, they’re simple to do one layer at a time.  

Lexis starts by providing an overview of color theory and discussing the benefits of working in warm and cool colors separately. To help you recognize what makes a completed painting, she also talks about the elements of design. The guiding principle for this class is “What would happen if I do this …?” Lexis encourages lots of experimentation!

You’ll paint on two separate sheets of watercolor paper so that one sheet has time to dry while you work on the other. Painting a cool layer followed by a warm layer, then vice versa, is designed to help you understand your own feelings on color choices. See how a complex design is built up by laying down simple brush strokes on a grid, and explore how brushes can make a variety of marks to add contrast. Add an additional layer of detailed pen work and experience how much more interest and depth it creates in your composition. 

We really like how Lexis offers a process with skills and tools that can be used to develop a personal style. She’d love to see what you create! There is some optional pre-class work, which should take no more than thirty minutes. See the Materials List for more information.

This online class will be recorded and made available to class participants for 10 days after the class.

Class Materials

Please bring the following materials:

• A container for water
• A rag or paper towels
• Set of watercolors. A basic set of watercolors with a selection of warm (red, orange, yellow, pink) and cool (purple, blue, green, teal) colors. Results are better with at least student grade pan or tube paints. The OOLY Lil’ Pods Watercolor set ($), Raphael Watercolor Pan Travel Set ($$), or Prima Confections Watercolor Pans ($$) are inexpensive but nice sets. A set of only 10 or 12 colors is fine. 
  
• Optional: small spray bottle of water for wetting your watercolors
• Optional: small piece of something sturdy, such a cutting mat, chip board, or masonite, for taping down the watercolor paper in your kit. It should be at least 10x10 inches. (Drafting tape is included in your kit.)
• Optional: hair dryer to speed up the drying process
  

Class Kit Includes: 

• Four pieces of hot press watercolor paper plus a smaller piece to practice on
• 2 watercolor brushes
• Black Fudenouske Pen
• White Posca PC-1m bullet shaped 0.7 mm
• Drafting tape

We ship class kits approximately 2 weeks before the class via USPS Priority Mail. You will receive a tracking number email from USPS (check your spam folder) once your kit ships. Kits can only be shipped within the USA. If you’re outside the USA and would like to take the class, please contact us for information.

Zoom Info

Be sure to look for an email with class details sent out the Monday before the class. Classes with homework may receive pre-class info earlier. The email includes a Zoom link to login, the class agenda, a materials list, and information on any pre-class prep. Please be prepared to RSVP to the info email so we know you are set for class. If you don’t see the class email from us check your spam folder. No email? Double check the email address you entered when you registered. It's on your order confirmation. If there's still an issue, contact twohandsclasses@gmail.com.

Class Refund/Cancellation Policy

For cancellation made 3 weeks before class we can either issue a refund or apply the funds to another class. We deduct the price of the class kit plus shipping if we’ve already shipped the kit, and we retain a $10 processing fee for EACH class cancelled. If you cancel fewer than 3 weeks before the class there is no refund or credit. If Two Hands Paperie cancels a class, we’ll contact you by email and refund the FULL class fee.

Instructor Bio

Lexis Krieg is the artist, illustrator, and designer behind Lexisworks, a business she started in 2008 as an outlet for her personal creativity. She can’t remember a time when she wasn’t making something. She took every art class in high school, then left to study art at Minnesota State University Moorhead. While there Lexis fell in love with graphic design and, as she explains, decided to leave the “real art" to “artists.” She worked as a graphic designer for a while but, after being laid off twice, she ended up growing her freelance business to satisfy her creativity and her urge to create with her own hands.

Her background in graphic design shines through the art she creates now: custom murals, surface patterns, illustrations, hand lettering, and mixed media paintings. No surprise that her studio is stuffed with vintage papers, tubes of paint, containers full of brushes and pens, old sketchbooks, glue, and a collection of materials for her daughters to create with. She’s decided she is an artist after all, and enjoys teaching workshops as a way to help others discover their own creative talents.

When people ask Lexis where she’s from she takes a deep breath and recites: “Alaska, Oregon, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and now Colorado.” (Somewhere in there she managed to live in England for a while.) Colorful Colorado became her home almost 15 years ago, and she’s been inspired by the Rocky Mountains ever since. Lexis takes any opportunity she can to get out and explore the Colorado landscape with her husband Bear, their two daughters, and their dog, Jackson.

See more Lexis' work on her website and on instagram @lexisworks.