Seascapes and Coastals in Watercolour | Szczepan Urbanowicz

Join Szczepan for this intensive watercolour workshop to understand and conquer all aspects of painting watercolour seascapes and coastal scenes.

In this 2-day watercolour workshop, students will learn about all things seascape and coastal, specifically, painting the colliding drama of oceans, coastal edges and dramatic skies!

Along with nautical themes, Szczepan (Stefan) loves seascapes – especially the rugged and sometimes inhospitable coastlines from around the globe. He is drawn to these places to sketch, to paint and in some case to just wait out natures battle between water and land. 

What will I learn?

This workshop is intended to be a relaxing environment for watercolour artists of “intermediate” skill levels to participate in a structured learning and interactive environment. It aims to extend each student’s existing skills by using well understood watercolour techniques in easy to follow, step by step painting methods.

• We will be covering such things as
• Understanding and mastering lighting conditions to accentuate focal point
• How to get those waves right
• Dramatic and distant skies
• Nautical theme compositions

We will generally aim to complete 2 paintings per day with a number of smaller exercises/ studies to understand different aspects as noted above.

Who is this course suitable for?

Please note, this workshop is suitable for intermediate and advance level participants in a structured learning and interactive environment.

What do I need to bring?

Please click on link for materials list: VIEW MATERIALS LIST or read below.

You can bring your own materials or rent a paint pack for $60 which includes 2 large sheets of watercolour paper.

Watercolour Paints

Either Daniel Smith, Winsor & Newton and M.Graham colours:

• Ultramarine
• Cobalt Blue Hue
• Cerulean Blue Hue
• Alizarin Crimson Hue
• Burnt Sienna
• Viridian Hue
• Cadmium Red Hue
• Yellow Ochre
• Cadmium Yellow Hue
• Cadmium Orange Hue
• Payne’s Grey

Optional

• Pyroll Red (or similar)
• Quinacridone Red Oxide (an “exotic” I use occasionally)
• Pyroll Orange (or similar)
• Neutral Tint ( I use it……but rarely)

Paper

• Saunders 100% cotton papers – “Rough” 300gsm paper

Brushes

• Two quality watercolour brushes. Both mops - medium and large size

Other

• Water container (minimum 1 litre)
• Soft rags
• Masking tape (2cm wide)
• A stiff backing board – generally slightly larger than your paper
• Paint Pallet
• Soft 4B pencil and eraser (kneadable if possible)
• Notepad and pen (to take notes)
• A smartphone or IPad (to take pictures of our demo images or to electronically transfer images to your devices for ease of reference

Please bring your lunch and snacks or you can purchase from cafes close by. We do have a fridge and microwave at the studio for your convenience.

What is provided

• Tables, chairs, easels
• Tea and coffee (bring your own mug)
• A friendly and supportive environment
• Connection to the Bienarté art community.

About Szczepan Urbanowicz

Szczepan graduated with an Honours Degree in Architecture from the University of Auckland in 1993. He is a Member of the Watercolour Society of Queensland. He has been painting for a long time, however in 2018 started to expand his role into teaching watercolour classes and offering workshops. 

Szczepan continues to paint plein-air and spends his time painting and teaching both locally and overseas. Just recently, he participated at the International Watercolour Masters IWM2024 in Shropshire, England, exhibiting and performing painting demonstrations. May 2025 will see him painting in the streets of Montemoro-O-Novo in Portugal as part of that city’s flourishing Watercolour Festival and following on with workshops. 

He juggles international watercolour commitments with his local Brisbane based activities all the time developing a rich and broad array of subject material to supplement his love of architectural and urban themes. Recently exploring nautical themes and seascapes alongside a lifelong fascination with sailing craft and old gaffers.

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