Wyatt Water’s Plein Air Watercolor Workshop
Below is the outline of Wyatt’s Plein Air Watercolor Workshop for a three-day session:
Overview:
The focus of Wyatt’s workshop is about learning to see and painting outside en plein air with watercolor. The emphasis is as much on seeing as painting.
Wyatt will speak and demonstrate the problems associated with working on location while providing practical solutions and advice, based on his 40+ years of experience. Wyatt shares his philosophy of life that is intrinsically tied to his painting. The workshop deals with how painting can inform life, as well as the other way around. The emphasis is on getting the attendees in touch with their own seeing. He encourages not just the painting of what is seen, but also their felt expression that can give their own art meaning.
Schedule:
Each day runs approximately 9 am to 4 pm with a 45-minute lunch break.
The morning session will be an overview of the day’s topic and a demonstration painting. The afternoon session consists of a group paint, applying the morning’s teaching to their own painting, and individual instruction, as needed. Each day will end with a group critique of what worked and areas of improvement.
Day One: Types of Color and Color Theory
(This day is inside to help prepare artists to see color for painting outside.)
AM: Wyatt’s demonstration will be of still life, where he will talk about induced color and reflected color bounce. He uses a still life setup that is very effective in conveying these ideas. He explains as he paints and fields questions from attendees.
PM: Students paint from still life with emphasis on induced color and reflected color while Wyatt instructs and advises.
End of Day: A critique of paintings and a conclusion of the day.
Day Two: Values and Speed of Painting
(This day may be outside or inside, depending on the weather. Preferably outside.)
AM: Demonstration of head and shoulders portrait from life (the model is the artist’s wife). It begins with a watercolor drawing using ivory black on sketch paper. This helps to improve values, speed of painting, and to keep the artist in touch with the fluidity of watercolor. Then, painting the model — applying the values to the painting.
PM: Attendees do watercolor drawing and paint as the model poses.
He also speaks to the group walking them through their drawings and paintings.
End of Day: Group gathers to talk about their paintings pointing out what went best and what could use improvement.
Day Three: People Studies
(This day is outside. Outside location such as a park with people doing activities and other interests. Fountain, water, buildings)
AM: Wyatt demonstrates how to paint studies of groups of people, illustrating how it can give life to a painting. This is followed by a full watercolor demonstration from start to finish using people sketches to include in paintings.
PM: Attendees work on their watercolor sketches of people applying to their paintings. Wyatt makes rounds going from person to person and speaks whole group, walking them through the painting.
End of Day: Gather with more Q/A. Critiquing of paintings and a wrap-up, giving attendees ideas of how to continue their paintings after the workshop.
A social exchange and visiting.
Artist/Instructor Bio:
Wyatt Waters is a nationally recognized watercolorist celebrated for his luminous plein air paintings that capture the character of people and places with spontaneity, color, and soul.A native Mississippian, Waters paints exclusively on location, often working outdoors to translate real moments into expressive visual narratives.
In addition to his acclaimed body of work, Wyatt is the author of The Watercolor Road: Painting and Writing Through the American South, a deeply personal collection of paintings and essays reflecting his travels and artistic journey across the region. He has published seven successful books, including Another Coat of Paint, Painting Home, and An Oxford Sketchbook, each showcasing his ability to translate the familiar into something extraordinary.
His collaborations with chef Robert St. John have produced four additional titles, blending watercolor, storytelling, and Southern cuisine. Their creative partnership also inspired the PBS series Palate to Palette.
In 2025, Wyatt and his wife, Kristi, opened the Wyatt Waters Gallery in Natchez, Mississippi, a new space dedicated to his interpretations of the river city and the surrounding region. It joins his flagship gallery in Clinton, MS.
Most recently, Wyatt completed an extended painting trip through France, creating more than 100 works on location. He is currently developing a new plein air book chronicling his travels, offering a painter’s-eye view of French culture and countryside.
Whether capturing a quiet back porch in Mississippi or a bustling Parisian café, Wyatt Waters continues to paint life as he sees it—one brushstroke at a time.