Artistic Encounters: Watercolor Portraits

Join us in June for an oh-so-satisfying experience when we give new life to a photo of a loved one…human or fur baby or even a treasured object! You’ll discover a simple way to transfer the outline of your photo to paper and then embellish with watercolor and acrylic paint pens. We’ll discuss color theory and color value and learn a bit of technique as we go along. 

For best results you’ll need to bring a printed photo (it can be black and white or color) that has really nice contrast (dark and light tones between the background and subject). If possible, crop your photo on your phone or computer so that it’s a simple head/shoulders or more of a close-up shot. The more simple the better. A 5x7 overall image size would work well and will fit onto the paper we’ll be using. 

If you forget your photo, or don’t have a printer, we’ll have some images of familiar subjects on hand (florals, fruit, dogs, etc.) for you to use; or you can email Hanna at hanna@mfplibrary.org to print a photo for you. 

In this monthly program, instructor Jennifer will guide us through some art history and then lead us in creating our own works of art. Some months we will take a look at a specific artist, or sometimes an entire art movement, always considering the medium the artists worked in, looking at samples of their work, and finally trying our hand at a project inspired by the artist or art movement.

Attendees must be a Mammen Family Public Library card holder. Please include your library card number on the registration form below so that we can confirm your registration.