Dates: 7 – 14 June, 2025
Teacher: Chan Dissasnayake
Title: The magic language of watercolours
Programme: Daily morning workshops of 3 hours
Suitability: All levels
Excursions and extras: Visit to waterfall, beach picnic, village visit
Food: Three meals a day.
Itinerary: Arrive Savusavu Satuday. Course starts morning Sunday, ends evening Friday. Depart Savusavu Saturday morning.

Materials: A list of materials to be purchased for the course is given below.

“Watercolour is a demanding medium. It is paramount that one learns the language of watercolour. Only then you can command it to do its magic for you.”

The truly magical qualities of watercolour can best be demonstrated in portraying atmospheric effects, using the wet-in-wet technique. We will paint a variety of subjects, exploring the beautiful Daku Resort and the surrounding areas of the Island in Fiji.

Completing a full painting each day from start to finish; each painting will be chosen to demonstrate a certain technique and key learning points. There will be lots of useful discussions as well as tips on how to avoid potential pitfalls.

Chan’s materials list:

When it comes to materials, I would highly recommend buying the best quality materials you could afford. These will make a significant difference to your work and avoid unnecessary frustrations. In the list below I have avoided, where possible any unnecessary expensive materials and provided you with cheaper alternatives.

Paper

Saunders Waterford 300GSM Rough Surface or Arches 300GSM rough or medium texture. (I mostly use rough, also it is much more economical to buy the full sheets and cut it into various sizes.) These are available from all major art suppliers. For students trying to use quarter sheets, you can use Arches 185GSM medium surface (Cold Pressed) which will be little cheaper. Alternatively you may want to buy blocks which come in books (expensive). I encourage the students to work in half or quarter sheet papers. Most of my demonstrations will be done on half-sheets or quarter-sheets.

Brushes

I use a medium size squirrel mop brush with a sharp point (Size 8 to 12) for most of my paintings. As the sizes vary with different manufacturers it is difficult to specify an exact size. A good quality brush will hold lot of pigment and present a sharp point when fully loaded.

You don’t need to buy Sable brushes which are very expensive, but please get a few artist quality brushes. It will make a significant difference to your work.

Essential Brushes

• Medium Size squirrel hair or natural hair Mop brush ( Size 8 to 12)
• Size 12 round Brush with sharp point (Synthetic or Natural hair)
• Size 8 Round with sharp point (Synthetic or Natural hair)
• Size 0 or 1 Rigger (Synthetic)

Extra Brushes (Optional)

• Size 6 Dagger also known as a “Sword brush” (Natural Hair)
• 1” inch Flat Brush (Synthetic)
• 2” inch Hake (Natural Hair)Paint

If you already have watercolour paint, bring what you have. But If you are buying please make sure you buy artist quality paints. I prefer to use tube paints, they can be left on the palette to dry and can be reused. There are well known artist quality paints available, but mainly I use Windsor & Newton due its excellent quality and vibrancy. Even Its student grade paints Cotman is superior some of the other artist quality brands! Essentially you will need warmer and cooler primary colour.

Essential Paint

Blues

• cerulean blue (Cool )Website: www.chandissan.comEmail: [email protected]
• ultramarine blue (Warm)

Yellows

• Raw Sienna or Yellow Ochre (Cool)
• Cadmium Yellow Light (warm)

Reds

• Cadmium Red Light (Warm)
• Alizarin crimson (cool)

Darks

• Burnt Sienna
• Neutral Tint

Extra Paint (Optional)

• Cobalt blue
• Turquoise blue Light
• Raw Umber
• Chinese White
• Quinacridone Gold or Australian Red GoldWatercolour Board

You will need a board for mounting the watercolour paper. These are available from art stores but a cheaper option is to get them from a hardware shop. A board with some sort of coating will be desirable as it will be saturated with water. (We have plenty of boards at Daku – they are not coated but have been used by many watercolourists before.)

Field Easel (if includes plein-air/outdoor work)

If you have a light-weight foldable easel it would be most suitable. However a foldable stool is also ok as you can sit and rest the watercolour board on your knees for painting. (We always take chairs from Daku with us on location so don’t worry too much about a stool.)

Mixing palette: Plastic or Metallic mixing palette with sufficient wells for mixing large washes. I use a foldable mixing palette from Holbein (Japanese brand), although little expensive a good investment. However there are inexpensive plastic imitations that serve just as well. White porcelain plate or butchers tray would also be fine.

Other Extras:

• 2B Lead Pencil or Mechanical Clutch pencil with fillable 2B Lead
• Box of tissue paper
• Water container (we have plenty of plastic bottles at Daku)
• Water spray bottle – Atomizer
• Masking Tape or Paper clips
• Old towel or sponge to remove/control excess water
• Failed or old painting so we can use their backs for rough work.
• iPad / Tablet to use for reference photos