Watercolour Painting
with Keiko Tanabe
Japan, Kyoto
🗓️ July 4th to 10th 2026
🎨 Watercolour Painting
Full Board Accommodation: 1890€ to 2600€ for 6 nights based on room choice & single or shared occupancy.
Tutor's Fee per person: 500€
Partners & family may join the trip as non-participating guests without the teaching fee.
Course Description
This five-day immersive workshop is designed for artists who want to deepen their understanding of landscape painting through observation, design, and expressive interpretation. Working primarily in water colour and on location, participants will explore essential principles of composition, light, atmosphere, and perspective while learning how to simplify complex scenes and capture the essence of a place.
Beginning with en plein air watercolor practice, the course builds a strong foundation in observing and composing the natural landscape. Each day balances technical instruction with guided practice, allowing students to progressively develop confidence and personal expression. Architectural elements and perspective will be introduced to expand compositional possibilities, while later sessions focus on refinement, simplification, and emotional clarity in landscape work.
The workshop concludes with a supportive review and group critique, encouraging reflection, artistic growth, and dialogue—ending with a relaxed wine tasting to celebrate the week’s creative journey.
Paints, colours and materials required to bring yourself:
Paints: professional quality brands. My basic palette consists of cobalt blue, alizarin crimson, orange, cadmium red, burnt sienna, raw sienna, quinacridone gold, lemon yellow, Dioxazine purple, viridian or phthalo green, turquoise, transparent brown, titanium white (all Sennelier). Feel free to bring your own favorites, too. Include one suitable for a monochromatic painting such as neutral tint or sepia. Tube paint recommended.
Palette: any kind. Plenty of mixing areas will be useful.
Brushes: One large round brush size 12 or bigger (such as Escoda Ultimo which is squirrel imitation or something similar such as Raphael Softaqua, Princeton Neptune). One medium-sized round brush similar to the above. One brush for details size #14 or smaller (such as Escoda Perla, Raphael Precision or something similar).
Other brushes useful: liner, rigger, dagger, flat (hake), Oriental brush, etc. Bring your own favourites.
Paper: rough or cold-pressed; 140Lb (300gm) or heavier; cotton, professional quality such as Arches, Saunders/Waterford and Fabriano Artistico. Please plan on using 2 sheets per day. Also some paper to test colours (old or lesser quality paper will be fine).
Paper Size: 1⁄4 sheet (11” x 15”) or 12” x 16” recommended, up to half sheet (15” x 22”), depending on your comfort level
Others (required): Drawing board, gatorboard, foamcore or anything that supports paper (If you use a block, this will not be necessary.), Masking tape, clips, or staplers to secure paper to the board, Pencil & eraser, Sketchbook or drawing pad for thumbnail sketches and small studies, Container for washing brushes, Towels or sponge
Optional: masking fluid, spray bottle, palette knife, table-top easel (for studio) or outdoor easel (for plein-air) if applicable, etc.
Any questions about materials? Please email Keiko at ktanabeart@gmail.com.
