Learn to paint magical alpenglow!
Explore incredible colors and techniques for painting alpenglow, sunrises, and sunsets during three classes with Claire Giordano.
Alpenglow is my favorite phenomena in the mountains. The ephemeral hues of pink, purple, yellow, and blue shift and fade quickly as the sun rises and sets. When I first started painting watercolor more than a decade ago, learning to paint this incredible light was a longtime goal that took many hours of practice and trial and error. In this class, I will share all my favorite techniques for how I paint the colorful light and shadow of alpenglow in the mountains.
Techniques we will cover include:
- Painting the colorful gradients in skies and illuminated snow
- How to add blue shadows to add depth and contrast
- Exploring contrast and value to make colors pop
- Using color shifts to paint glowing rock
- Harnessing the power of hard and soft edges to define light and blend colors and clouds
- The first two weeks will focus on skills and techniques practice in smaller paintings, and in the third week we will put it all together in a larger painting (8x10 inches).
Recordings now available! While the live sessions are done, you can now access the edited and enhanced recordings.
The recorded classe are free for new and current Adventure Art Academy students ($27/month). As a standalone course it costs $90. Registration links below.
Registration
There are two ways to access the series.
Course Only: $90. You can purchase the single course here, and after registration you will be sent a welcome email with course access information.
FREE as part of the Adventure Art Academy ($27/month): This option gives you access to this new course, the entire library of more than 35 watercolor lessons in the Adventure Art Academy, AND the Ink Sketching Course! You can sign up and cancel anytime.
Learn more here: www.adventureartacademy.com
Sign up for the Adventure Art Academy here. (I also have a need-based sliding scale for the Adventure Art Academy- just email me! )
How to Access the classes after you register:
- Adventure Art Academy students - You do not need to register for the course anymore, as the recordings are in our Library. when you sign in, the first page you see is our classroom; scroll down a tiny bit and click "Studio Courses"
- Standalone Course: Your registration confirmation email will provide access instructions
Community:
As a student in this course, you will be welcome in our wonderful community space on Discord, where my students and alumni from all over the world connect, share work, and chat about watercolor! (Discord is a free non-social media desktop and mobile app.)
Course Materials:
If you already have watercolor supplies, please use those! I do not want anyone to feel like they need to go out and buy a bunch of new things, and I often recommend that folks do a few classes before investing in new materials.
If you are a beginner and have no supplies, I list a few options below for paints and paper at a lower and higher price point. All of these items can be found on this list here from Blick (You do NOT need to buy everything on this list! I just organized everything here in one place). If items are available substantially cheaper elsewhere, I noted it below.
Watercolor Brush: I will do the vast majority of the class with a fine-tipped #10 round brush. Some students may wish to have a smaller brush on hand for details. I will also use a larger brush for color washes, and this can be flat or round! I prefer synthetic bristles because of their sight stiffness and affordability: Here's a few that I like (you do not need both #10's!)
- Grumbacher #10 round with synthetic bristles
- #4 Quill Brush and the #10 round from Black Gold (both are cheaper from The Brush Guys)
Watercolor Paper: I highly recommend getting two kinds of paper - a cheap practice paper and a nicer cotton paper. My go-to's are:
- Canson XL watercolor paper pad
- Arches cold press cotton paper, white or bright white. You can buy this in pads or sheets. On the list above I added the cheapest option which is a pad of 12 pieces. Over time, buying the larger loose sheets and tearing down to size is the most economical. You don't need to buy this, but very often students have a breakthrough moment when they try a good cotton paper for the first time.
Paint: Aside from cotton paper, this will be the other biggest expense. You DO NOT need to have the exact colors I list below to paint successfully! I share the paint colors because some folks will want the exact ones, but if you are comfortable with a little different or unpredictability in your mixes anything will work!
- You can get a starter set like the Cotman Watercolor set. This will be the cheapest option, and if you don't have any supplies and are uncertain about whether you will continue with the medium this can be a good place to start. There are some drawbacks to cheaper paints, but they will work ok.
- If you feel like you want to invest in higher quality paint, I've been using Daniel Smith paints for a decade. For alpenglow you can get away with a pretty small selection of colors.
- Colors I will use the most: Quinacridone Rose, Hansa Yellow Medium, New Gamboge, Phthalo Blue Green Shade, Cobalt Blue, Neutral Tint, Indanthrone blue (a dark blue), and a burnt sienna or indian red.
Other Supplies: the few other things we need are-
- Pencil and eraser
- Mixing surface (a plate works) if you palette doesn't have one
- Cup for water
- Rag or paper towels (ideally something rinseable and reusable)
- optional- Waterproof fine tipped pen for taking notes on your pages
