Autumn Watercolours: Warm Meets Cool Tones - Toronto Art Classes

About this course

This single-day workshop invites you to capture the rich transition of late autumn through the harmonious interplay of temperature and light. Under the direction of Laura Krieger, you will explore how balancing fiery, warm pigments with crisp, cool undertones brings depth, mood, and atmosphere to your paintings. The focus is on embracing the spontaneous, fluid nature of watercolour to convey the subtle beauty of autumn’s shifting palette. Through targeted demonstrations and hands-on guidance, you will learn how to mix clean, luminous washes, manage water-to-pigment ratios for soft atmospheric transitions, and use temperature contrast to establish focal points. This workshop provides an inspiring, practical environment to refine your colour sense and develop a confident, expressive approach to seasonal landscapes.

What you'll learn

Analyze Temperature Dynamics: Explire the principles of pairing warm and cool tones to create atmospheric depth and visual balance.
Control Wash Transparency: Develop proficiency in wet-on-wet and layering techniques to build rich, luminous autumn glazes without muddying pigment.
Define Value and Temperature Contrast: Use sharp shifts between warm highlights and cool shadows to construct dynamic, grounded compositions.
Manage Water-to-Pigment Ratios: Refine your technical control over wetness levels to achieve smooth gradients, soft edges, and defined seasonal foliage.
Simplify Seasonal Scenery: Learn to distill complex, late-autumn views into essential shapes, values, and harmonious color fields.
Develop an Intuitive Palette: Build confidence in making deliberate, expressive colour choices that evoke the specific mood and crisp light of autumn.

Paints:

– warm and cool blue (e.g., ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, phthalo blue)

– warm and cool red (e.g., pyrrol crimson, alizarin crimson, vermillion)

– warm and cool yellow (e.g., lemon yellow, cadmium yellow, hansa yellow medium)

– burnt sienna

– burnt umber

– Optional: raw sienna, raw umber, yellow ochre

Brushes: a good, medium-sized round brush will do lots for you in this class (e.g., #6-10 round/kolinsky, #0-4 quill). A flat brush also works if that’s your preference (e.g., 1/2″)

Paper: prioritize 100% cotton paper. The brand is less important (I use a variety of Arches and Saunders Waterford). Cold press and hot press will both work, choose whatever you’re most comfortable with (note that cold press will lends itself more easily to texture than hot press).

Extras: clean sponge, graphite pencil (in the H range, preferably), eraser, water container, palette, a cloth (for wiping your brushes), and a few pieces of paper towel

Your instructor

Laura Krieger

Watercolour Landscape Artist · M.Sc. in Psychological Science · Formative ARAS Alumna

Laura Krieger is a landscape painter and educator whose artistic journey is deeply intertwined with the Avenue Road Arts School. Having grown up spending her summers in the school’s historic day programs, she later returned to its studios to formally train in foundational watercolour theory. Her practice is defined by a dedication to capturing natural scenery, a focus sparked by a definitive 100-day dedicated painting project. With an M.Sc. in Psychological Science, Laura integrates an understanding of the creative mind into her pedagogy, ensuring her studio environment is both structured and deeply rewarding. Her classes guide students through the technical nuances of watercolour landscapes while fostering an encouraging space for individual artistic growth. Laura is based in Toronto, where she maintains an active studio practice.

Meet our instructors

FAQs

If you're still in doubt, don't hesitate to contact us: contactus@avenueroadartsschool.com

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