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  PAINTING ON LOCATION IN 4-VALUES: After developing a feel for the placement of lights and darks in the painting and simplifying the infinite values of nature into four: (1) light, (2) middle light, (3) middle dark, and (4) dark, I would take the class outdoors to apply the principle to natural surroundings.  One issue I had with students when first presenting 4-value, monochromatic paintings was that they wanted to get into C O L O R   straight away.  A limited palette of G R A Y S   felt to them like their hands were tied behind their backs.  But after their initial resistance, they could see that their paintings were much stronger through being given such strict limitations...and they learned how to manipulate light, which is essential in creating powerful paintings, and particularly, powerful watercolors. I chose locations that offered a variety of interesting possibilities and were easy to get to on public transportation.  For example, we went to the Palace of Fine Arts, Stow La

WET-INTO-WET: Another essential watercolor technique is known as 'wet-into-wet.  When thinking of watercolor, this technique is one of the first that comes to mind to many people.  It's so named because fluid watercolor pigment is brushed onto a wet surface resulting in soft, amorphous edges.  It is a perfect technique for creating wispy cloudy skies, atmospheric landscapes, and subtly modulated forms. Below are some of my class demonstrations.   The example on the left shows what happens when pigment is applied at various stages of paper wetness.  The middle examples show the different ways the wet-into-wet approach can be matched to subjects.  On the right, three colors (alizarin crimson, phthalocyanine green, and French ultramarine) create abstract compositions on areas of different degrees of moistness... Emil Nolde created hundreds of loose and evocative wet-into-wet paintings with his superb wet-into-wet watercolor technique... The students were particularly attracted to