Date: Nov.22
Celebrate Fall Capture the charm and character of gourds—those wonderfully unique shapes, textures, and colors that define the season. In this online workshop, you’ll discover how to loosen up your technique, use flowing brushstrokes, and let watercolor’s natural movement bring each gourd to life.
Learn how to turn challenges into creative opportunities and watch your paintings take on a beautiful, organic rhythm. Whether you’re drawn to the soft curves, subtle tones, or playful imperfections, this class will help you embrace the freedom of watercolor and celebrate Fall’s natural abundance.
In this hybrid workshop, you’ll have plenty of time to paint while I help keep you paced and on track, offering guidance and encouragement along the way.
Meeting time
- 12 PM - 4 PM / New York
- 11 AM - 3 PM / Chicago
- 10 AM - 2 PM / Denver
- 9 AM - 1 PM / San Francisco
Need help? Contact Sue
Warm up with simple shapes
For those new to watercolor or just getting started, this class is the perfect opportunity to build foundational skills while creating something beautiful. Through easy warm-up exercises, you’ll learn how to give your gourds body, shape, and dimension—capturing their gentle curves, subtle shadows, and those delightful little bumps and textures that make each one unique. These exercises are designed to help you gain control of water and pigment, so your paintings will feel more confident and alive.
About the workshop
We’ll make this a manageable, step-by-step project by focusing on sections of the composition—building layers, exploring color, and celebrating natural imperfections. You’ll begin with simple exercises designed to build confidence and understanding before moving into a full composition. If at any point the composition feels like too much, you can continue working with the exercises and still learn how to create a successful, expressive painting.
Bonus Lesson
I’m sure you can easily paint a pumpkin, basically draw a circle, and just fill it in with color. But if you want your painting to stand out, understand values, pull shapes out of the shadows, learn about highlights, and how to avoid your painting from appearing flat, this would be for you.
Begin with simple exercises, then learn to apply what you have done to more in-depth painting lessons or even your own compositions. Paint at your own pace, lifetime access, all levels.
Your instructor
Birgit O'Connor
Birgit O’Connor is a Master artist and a signature member of M-NWWS, (Northwest Watercolor Society) M-CWA, (California Watercolor Association) M-LWS (Louisiana Watercolor Society).
She is an award winning artist, judge, juror and author of the top-selling North Light books “ Watercolor in Motion”"Paint Watercolor Flowers" and “Watercolor Essentials” along with being included in three other titles. Known for her original paintings and inspirational teaching style.
Publications include the New York Times, SF Gate,Artist Magazine and Watercolor Artist Magazine INK in New Mexico, in the United States, Dobry Zank, (Poland) "L'Art de l'Aquarelle (France). Her memberships include Cambridge Who’s Who, Who's Who in America and Who's Who in American Women.
