Watercolour: Painting nature’s details
Start Date: Wednesday 9/09/2026 (Weekly)
Time: 02:30pm
Duration: 2.5 hrs
Price: £360.00
Ability: All Welcome
Tutor: Rachel Labovitch
Tickets Available: 8
About this course
“Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we have the eyes to see them.”
~John Ruskin
From dramatic skies and weathered pebbles to delicate feathers and butterflies, this eight-week course takes its inspiration from the natural world. Each session introduces a new subject alongside one or two core watercolour techniques, helping you build confidence through observation and practice. Working step by step, you'll learn how to control washes, mix luminous colour, create texture, layer transparent glazes and capture light with increasing ease. Suitable for beginners and those looking to refresh their skills, the course concludes with an opportunity to develop your own personal project with individual guidance.
Week 1 - Clouds
Studying skies and clouds using wash, graded wash, wet in wet, wet on dry and lifting out techniques. Focussing on washes and paint consistency, de-mystifying all of these terms and work through each technique and understanding when and why to use them.
Week 2 - Pebbles
Looking at pebbles and using the laying and lifting techniques on wet in wet to create natural forms using various materials such as transparent film . Mixing colours to create neutral greys.
Week 3 - Rose Hips
Exploring tonal gradation using a wet on dry technique to paint natural forms, using glazes and layering. Marking finer details using stippling. Mixing colours and different paint thicknesses and using the colour wheel as a prompt for glazes.
Week 4 - Leaves
Painting leaves using the lifting out technique combined with glazes to master multiple layering of different colours and values.
Week 5 - Shells
Using a variegated wash and glazing as a base to paint shells, combined with wet on dry detailing and lifting out.
Week 6 - Feathers
Using variegated washes to create downy feathers, as well as applying masking fluid to mask off white areas. Lifting off and adding to the white areas to create subtle shadows. Studying iridescence and how to achieve it in a feather.
Week 7 - Moths and Butterflies
More complexity this week, charging paint into variegated washes, lifting out, wet in wet and scumbling techniques all combine to create ethereal moths and butterflies.
Week 8 - Personal Projects
Rounding up the course, an opportunity to pursue personal projects, finish off unfinished pieces, troubleshoot and plan forwards.
Materials : All materials will be supplied but if you have your own set of watercolour paints,and brushes you like to use, please bring these.
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“Taking the time to learn in the inspiring environment of Colne Road Studios was such a treat! The group was welcoming and supportive and Rachel is an extremely talented and generous teacher, sharing her skills and knowledge to give us fresh perspectives and a wealth of useful advice and feedback. I felt my ability and interest in drawing had been revived after many years dormant, learning how to observe as well as how to draw. I would encourage anyone willing to pick up a pencil to have a go, and have already signed up to Rachel’s next course! “CB March 2025
A CPZ is in force from Mon to Sat 8.30 – 6.30pm
Limited paid spaces available in surrounding roads with Ring Go cashless Parking
Max stay 4 hours during operational hours
Holly Road Car park, behind Marks & Spencer TW1 4HF
Mon to Sat – 8am to 6.30pm.
This car park is accessible and free to park in outside of these hours. Max stay 4 hours during operational hours – walking to the Studio approx 9mins
At the moment the courses at Colne Road Studios are designed for adults over the age of 18 . The aim is to create a relaxed environment, provide a bit of an escape and switch off from every day responsibilites. We are not able to accommodate children in our classes, nor do we provide children’s classes at this time.
To secure a course, please book at least 8 days before the listed course start date.
Any course with no bookings 8 days prior to it’s start date will then be removed from the website .
Courses with fewer than 3 participants may be cancelled, with 5 days’ notice given to those who had enrolled.
You will be notified by email if this happens, unless you would like us to text you instead, but please let us know.
A refund for the full course value will then be made.
Please bare with us . This might take 5-10 days to come through.
100 Colne Road Twickenham TW2 6QE. map ref
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All of our longer courses are exchangeable up until 28 days prior to the start of the course. After this, you are able to change your booking to a different course for a £20 admin fee. Please note that from 14 days prior to the start of the course, your booking is non-refundable and non-exchangeable.
Our refund policy is strict because it enables us to pay ourselves and our tutors a fair wage, and remain accessible as a studio.
Every time we are asked to to accommodate a refund request, we would be forced to lower our staff wages or increase our prices – both of which we really want to avoid. We hope you understand that this is why there are no exemptions to our refund policies.
What if the course is cancelled by Colne Road Studios ?
Courses with fewer than 3 participants may be cancelled, with 5 days’ notice given to those who had enrolled.
You will be notified by email if this happens, unless you would like us to text you instead, but please let us know.
A refund for the full course value will then be made.
Please bare with us . This might take 5-10 days to come through.