Post Office Box 4631
Walnut Creek, CA 94596  USA

CWA Workshops

CWA strives to provide our students some of the best workshops with the top professional artists of our time. Please join in the fun. We look forward to meeting you.

CWA conducts both In-Person and Virtual Workshops. Check the workshop listings to see the type of workshop that you are interested in.

Below is the address for the In-Person workshops.

Danville Ranch House
1895 Ridgeland Circle
Danville, CA 94526

  • When taking a CWA virtual workshop we will provide students with a limited-time link to view a recording of the workshop.
  • CWA will provide a link to a facebook page where students will be able to post their work for the artist and workshop participants to view. 
  • Discounts for CWA Members:  To receive the Member discount, you must log in, choose Workshops, then click the blue Sign Up Now button. If you are not a CWA member, you may click the Sign Up Now button at any time.
  • Sign up for more than one workshop at the same time and receive an automatic 10% discount off the total 
  • Waitlists: To get on our waiting list contact our registrar at registrar@californiawatercolor.org
  • Pay online: Pay through your PayPal account or Visa/Master Card (which will be accepted by PayPal)
  • Pay by check: Alternatively, you may print out the Registration Form, fill it out and mail it with your check to the name and address printed on the form.
  • Terms and Conditions and Cancellation Policy: Registering for a workshop means you are accepting our terms and conditions and cancellation policy.
  • For more information, contact your Workshop Team at registrar@californiawatercolor.org

2024 Registration Form

2024 Virtual Workshop Instructions

Search Current Workshops
 

Watercolor Workshops 2024

California Watercolor Association Workshop Series 2024

Dale Latinen 2024 In Person Workshop

Dale Laitinen – Shapeshifting the Western Landscape

October 20-23, 2024 (4 Days), 9 AM – 4 PM PST
Intermediate to Advanced

A painting rich with shapes, colors, and details, complete to the final brushstroke belies its beginnings in observation, sketching, composition, and ultimately washes of color that bring it to life. Painting, especially water-media requires an unending enthusiasm for experimentation and a hands on approach to the discipline.

Whether abstract or representational, to paint one needs to build on the fundamental building blocks of drawing, shape making, depicting light and shadow, and using color to evoke emotion. In this workshop we will do just that.

Through painting demos, slide presentations and individual instruction, we will discover strategies that will bring a poetic and inventive flavor to our works by searching out the underlying abstraction in nature.

Workshop Dates: October 20-23, 2024 (4 days), Sunday through Wednesday, 9 AM - 4 PM PST

Recording Available: No

Skill Level: Intermediate to Advanced

Registration Fees:  Non-Members $460, Members $400

Watercolor Workshop Supply List

Contact Workshops Team

Dale Laitinen has been painting for over forty years with thirty five of those in watercolor. He is a signature member of the National Watercolor Society, and Watercolor West. He is a graduate of Modesto Junior College and San Jose State University with a BA in Art with a painting concentration. He is a past juror of many National and regional exhibitions including Watercolor West, Kentucky Watercolor Society, Utah Watercolor Society, Watercolor Society of Oregon, Red River Watermedia Show, Magnum Opus and many others.

Laitinen’s work has been featured in several books including The Splash Series, Painting with the White of your Paper, The The Transparent Watercolor Wheel and more. An active workshop instructor, Dale has traveled widely in both the US and Abroad.  

Artist Web Site: http://dalelaitinen.com

DateTime
Sunday, October 20, 2024 - Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Full
9:00 AM-4:00 PM

WAIT LIST ONLY

Please click here to be added to the waitlist.


To receive the Member Price, please log in, choose Workshops, then click the blue Sign Up Now button above.  If you are not a CWA member, you may click the Sign Up Now button at any time.  

Alternatively, you may download and print out the Registration Form, fill it out and mail it with your check to the name and address printed on the form.


Watercolor Workshops 2025

California Watercolor Association Workshop Series 2025

Mike Hernandez 2025 Virtual ZOOM Workshop

Mike Hernandez – Painting the landscape in Gouache
January 11-12, 2025 (2 Days), 9 AM – 4 PM PST
*Recording of the entire workshop will be available for 30 days
All Skill Levels

ZoomLearn to paint the beautiful cool and worm hues of California using gouache or acryla gouache. Painting from photo reference in this two-day workshop, Mike will demonstrate the unique properties and techniques of using this water based medium. Learn to achieve the velvet like qualities of color that is unique to gouache and acryla gouache. Mike will also cover all of the other important fundamentals of landscape painting such as composition, shape design, value and lighting, color theory, grouping and simplification, texturizing.

Workshop Dates: January 11-12, 2025 (2 days),  Saturday and Sunday, 9 AM - 4 PM PST

Recording Available: Yes

Skill Level:  All Levels

Registration Fees:  Non-Members $395, Members $335

Watercolor Workshop Supply List

Virtual Workshop Instructions

Contact Workshops Team

A native Angeleno, Mike Hernandez is a plein air painter skilled in gouache, oil and acrylic, who’s works have been featured in several on-line publications as well as galleries. His process began as a young child, painting still life images. Influenced by the likes of Edgar Payne, Sorolla and Franz Bischoff, Mike soon explored the foundations of color and light in the outdoors – striving to find the beauty in the ordinary. With a palette that resides at the crossroads between industrial and landscapes, he finds inspiration anywhere from the Eastern Sierra range to the muddy concrete banks of the Los Angeles River. Mike studied at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, graduating with a B.A. in 1998. Mike was a Production Designer and Art Director as well as a concept artist at Dreamwork’s Animation and worked on such films as Shrek, How to train your Dragon, Turbo, Penguins of Madagascar and many other films. Mike is also a member of a limited group of the finest painters in the US called PAPA as well as a nation-wide sought-after workshop instructor. His works can be found in several private collections around the world

Artist Web Site: http://mikehernandezart.com

DateTime
Saturday, January 11, 2025 - Sunday, January 12, 2025
15 places available.
9:00 AM-4:00 PM

To receive the Member Price, please log in, choose Workshops, then click the blue Sign Up Now button above.  If you are not a CWA member, you may click the Sign Up Now button at any time.  

Alternatively, you may download and print out the Registration Form, fill it out and mail it with your check to the name and address printed on the form.


Michael Holter 2025 In Person Workshop

Michael Holter – Watercolor Impressionism, Landscapes and Cityscapes
February 24-27, 2025 (4 Days), 9 AM – 4 PM PST
*Recording of the entire workshop will be available for 30 days
All Skill Levels

My work is impressionistic. I like to represent people or places and allow the painting to evolve from the structure of what is recognizable. The challenge is to balance the care needed to make the representation interesting… and perhaps believable, with the freedom, looseness and painterly quality that makes painting so unique and expressive.

Workshop Dates: February 24-27, 2025 (4 days),  Monday  through Thursday, 9 AM - 4 PM PST

Recording Available: Yes

Skill Level:  All Levels

Registration Fees:  Non-Members $570, Members $510

Watercolor Workshop Supply List

Virtual Workshop Instructions

Contact Workshops Team

Michael Holter is an award-winning artist who works in watercolor and oil who's paintings can be found in private and corporate collections in the US and several foreign countries. Although Michael has been painting most of his life, his work experience spans a wide range of creative challenges. He has been an art teacher, creative director and businessman in both fine art and commercial art. Michael has owned and operated galleries and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Art Education and an MA in Visual Communication.

Michael is a member of the Salmagundi Club, a signature member of The American Watercolor Society, The National Watercolor Society, The American Impressionist Society, The Watercolor Honor Society, The Transparent Watercolor Society of America, The Outdoor Painter Society, the Southwestern Watercolor Society, The Missouri Watercolor, The Society of Watercolor Artists and more.

Social Media Sites:

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/michael.holter/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/michaelholterfineart/

DateTime
Monday, February 24, 2025 - Thursday, February 27, 2025
16 places available.
9:00 AM-4:00 PM

To receive the Member Price, please log in, choose Workshops, then click the blue Sign Up Now button above.  If you are not a CWA member, you may click the Sign Up Now button at any time.  

Alternatively, you may download and print out the Registration Form, fill it out and mail it with your check to the name and address printed on the form.


Gary Tucker 2025 Virtual ZOOM Workshop

Gary Tucker – Finding Confidence with Watercolor
March 21-23, 2025 (3 Days), 9 AM – 4 PM PST
Advanced Beginner - Some experience with watercolor is helpful

ZoomOur subject will be streets and countryside’s and how we can translate these into watercolor. I will show you methods to build your confidence with watercolor through brushwork and edge control. We will learn to quickly a focal area, construct a composition, and bring it to life through watercolor. 

The workshop includes demonstrations, work time, and critique.

“Through the media of watercolor and my process of painting I find power through brushwork, and subtlety through transparency.”

“Watercolor differs from other media in that there is a performance aspect to it. The fine pieces come out in one sitting and very often like a classic performance, something happens, a fusion of mind and subject, an improvisation that cannot be duplicated” – Gary Tucker

Workshop Dates: March 21-23, 2025 (3 days), Friday through Sunday, 9 AM - 4 PM PST

Recording Available: Yes

Skill Level:  Advanced Beginner

Registration Fees:  Non-Members $310, Members $250

Watercolor Workshop Supply List

Contact Workshops Team

2023 Gary Tucker WorkshopGary Tucker was drawing and painting from an early age, even in high school he began to think more seriously about life as an artist, and with the support of family and a chance meeting a life long mentor and artist, Mrs Anita Fahs, he started to make art his life path. Eventually Gary was drawn east to Boston where he enrolled at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Here Gary studied with Professor Kaji Aso, who taught watercolor and Japanese Calligraphy. Professor Aso introduced eastern aesthetics, Calligraphy and Sumi painting. Gary was also introduced to the media of watercolor and found he could achieve more subtlety and expressiveness in his painting.

 

DateTime
Friday, March 21, 2025 - Sunday, March 23, 2025
19 places available.
9:00 AM-4:00 PM

To receive the Member Price, please log in, choose Workshops, then click the blue Sign Up Now button above.  If you are not a CWA member, you may click the Sign Up Now button at any time.  

Alternatively, you may download and print out the Registration Form, fill it out and mail it with your check to the name and address printed on the form.


Michael Reardon 2025 In Person Workshop

Michael Reardon – Watercolors Techniques
April 23-25, 2025 (3 Days), 9 AM – 4 PM
All Levels Welcome. Some Experience with Watercolor Recommended.

In this workshop we will work on techniques to strengthen your skills in watercolor landscape painting. Fundamentals covered will include creating a strong composition, evoking a sense of light using values, and manipulating color for its full expressive effect. While Michael will demonstrate his painting style and the use of colors in his palette, he will encourage people to develop their personal style and approach to watercolor. 

A demonstration will start each day, followed by individual painting with careful guidance. A review of the days work concludes each day. We will also explore ways to work with photo references so that they help, not dictate, your final painting. 

Workshop Dates: April 23-25, 2025 (3 days), Wednesday through Friday, 9 am - 4 pm

Recording Available: Yes

Skill Level:  All Levels Welcome. Some Experience with Watercolor Recommended.

Registration Fees:  Non-Members $335, Members $275

Artist Website: Michael Reardon

Watercolor Workshop Supply List

Contact Workshops Team

Michael Reardon

Michael Reardon is a watercolor artist based in Oakland, California. His work has received numerous awards in national and international competition. He is widely sought as a juror and workshop instructor. 

He is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society, California Art Club and has master signature status in the California Watercolor Association. He has received many awards, including Best of Show at the Triton Museum of Art Statewide Exhibition of Watercolor and the Ogden and Mary Pleissner Memorial Award from the American Watercolor Society. His work has been featured in many magazines, including American Artist Watercolor, the Artist’s MagazineSouthwest Art, Watercolor Artist, Plein Air, Fine Art Connoisseur, and L’Art de lAquarelle. He is the author of Watercolor Techniques, published by North Light Books.

Artists Website: https://www.mreardon.com/

Social Media Sites

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.reardon.587/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelreardonwatercolors/

DateTime
Wednesday, April 23, 2025 - Friday, April 25, 2025
14 places available.
9:00 AM-4:00 PM

To receive the Member Price, please log in, choose Workshops, then click the blue Sign Up Now button above.  If you are not a CWA member, you may click the Sign Up Now button at any time.  

Alternatively, you may download and print out the Registration Form, fill it out and mail it with your check to the name and address printed on the form.


Amit Kapoor 2025 In Person Workshop

Amit Kapoor – How to Capture the Magic of Light & Shadow & How to Simplify a Complicated Subject
May 16-18, 2025 (3 Days), 9 AM – 4 PM PST
*Recording of the entire workshop will be available for 30 days
All Skill Levels

The workshop will begin with a discussion of the Fundamentals of Composition (6 GOLDEN RULES). We will explore these Golden Rules and how they apply to creating a well-balanced painting. 

1. Source of Light (Light & Shadow)
2. Perspective
3. Staging & posing
4. Camera Angles and Views
5. Elements & Properties
6. Line of Action in the figures
  

During the next three days of the workshop, we will apply these rules in the demo paintings and let the students work them into their paintings focusing on capturing the magic of light and shadow.

Workshop Dates: May 16-18, 2025 (3 days),  Friday through Sunday, 9 AM - 4 PM PST

Recording Available: Yes

Skill Level:  All Levels

Registration Fees:  Non-Members $455, Members $395

Watercolor Workshop Supply List

Virtual Workshop Instructions

Contact Workshops Team 

Mr. Amit kapoor is a leading master of watercolor medium in India. He has been recognized with top international honors for his paintings and his art graces the walls of many private and corporate collectors. He is in constant demand for solo exhibitions, workshops and instruction. His art captures the very soul of his subjects with passion. His exceptional drawing skills and extra ordinary abilities In art makes him proficient in any medium. His subjects include lot of compositional works where lovely play of light and shadow and prespectives are the main traits He is also the co founder and Principal of Anitoons The School Of Art And Animation. He is guest lecturer in many prestigious Art colleges like College of Art, Delhi, Apeejay Institute of Design, Jamia Millia Islamia (Mass Communication department), Meerabai Institute of technology . He was also in the jury Panel of Jamia Millia Islamia (Mass Communication department), in the jury panel of Jaipur Animation Film Festival (JAFF). He has been interviewed by several International influential media and magazines and he has high reputation for professional production and inspired leadership. Recently in 2013 he also launched his first book in watercolor medium “Amit kapoor LANDSCAPES IN WATERCOLOR“. He is the only Indian Watercolor Artist to get Silver Star Award from National Watercolor Society, USA. He is only Indian Artist invited for Live Demonstration by world’s biggest Art Channel “ SAA”, UK. 

Artist Website: https://www.amitkapoorwatercolor.com/

Social Media Sites

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amit.kapoor.904750/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amitkapoor_watercolors/

DateTime
Friday, May 16, 2025 - Sunday, May 18, 2025
15 places available.
9:00 AM-4:00 PM

To receive the Member Price, please log in, choose Workshops, then click the blue Sign Up Now button above.  If you are not a CWA member, you may click the Sign Up Now button at any time.  

Alternatively, you may download and print out the Registration Form, fill it out and mail it with your check to the name and address printed on the form.


Thomas Schaller 2025 Virtual ZOOM Workshop

Thomas Schaller – Design and the Power of Imagination
June 16-18, 2025 (3 Days), 9 AM – 4 PM PST
*Recording of the entire workshop will be available for 30 days

All Levels Welcome. Some Experience with Watercolor Recommended.

Zoom

Why we paint is far more important than what or how we paint. My work is a study in contrasts: light and dark, vertical and horizontal, warm and cool, the real and the imagined, and elements of the past, present, and future. I love to design with conflicting elements - allowing them to find balance and resolution on the surface of the paper in surprising and expressive ways. And I try never to paint just what I look at, but rather how it is I see. Painting for me is less about the result and more about becoming fully present in the process. I learn by better listening to my own creative voice. And I invite you to take part in this process - not to listen to any narrative of mine, but to help you to find and develop the artistic voice that is yours alone. 

Workshop Dates: June 16-18, 2025 (3 days), Monday through Wednesday, 9 AM - 4 PM PST

Recording Available: Yes

Skill Level: All Skill Levels

Registration Fees:  Non-Members $410, Members $350

Watercolor Workshop Supply List

Virtual Workshop Instructions

Contact Workshops Team

Thomas W. Schaller AWS NWS TWSA ASAI, is an award-winning artist, architect, and author based in New York City. As a renowned architectural artist, he received a Graham Foundation Grant and was a two-time recipient of the Hugh Ferriss Memorial Prize. He has authored three books; the best-selling, and AIA award winner, Architecture in Watercolor (VNR – McGraw Hill) The Art of Architectural Drawing (J.Wiley and Sons), and  Thomas W. Schaller, Architect of Light : Watercolor Paintings by a Master. (Penguin Random House)

Web Site: https://www.thomasschaller.com

Social Media Sites:
https://www.facebook.com/thomaswschaller
https://twitter.com/twschaller
https://www.instagram.com/thomaswschaller/

DateTime
Monday, June 16, 2025 - Wednesday, June 18, 2025
18 places available.
9:00 AM-4:00 PM

To receive the Member Price, please log in, choose Workshops, then click the blue Sign Up Now button above.  If you are not a CWA member, you may click the Sign Up Now button at any time.  

Alternatively, you may download and print out the Registration Form, fill it out and mail it with your check to the name and address printed on the form.


Keiko Tanabe 2025 In Person Workshop

Keiko Tanabe – Keep it Simple and Strong
October 27-29, 2025 (3 Days), 9 AM – 4 PM PST
Intermediate (Some experience with watercolor is recommended)

My work is impressionistic. I like to represent people or places and allow the painting to evolve from the structure of what is recognizable. The challenge is to balance the care needed to make the representation interesting… and perhaps believable, with the freedom, looseness and painterly quality that makes painting so unique and expressive.

Workshop Dates: October 27-29, 2025 (3 days), Monday through Wednesday, 9 AM - 4 PM PST

Recording Available: Yes

Skill Level:  Intermediate

Registration Fees:  Non-Members $455, Members $425

Watercolor Workshop Supply List

Virtual Workshop Instructions

Contact Workshops Team 

Keiko was born in Kyoto, Japan and currently lives in San Diego, California. Mostly self-taught, she embarked on a professional art career in 2005. Since then, her paintings have been in many national and international exhibitions, both juried and invitational, and gained world-wide recognitions. Her work has been purchased by private and corporate collectors from all around the world. She also had her paintings published and featured in leading art magazines and a number of publications in the U.S., Europe and Asia. A sought-after workshop instructor since 2011, she has conducted numerous workshops and live demonstrations around the world. She has frequently served as a juror in art exhibitions both on national and on international levels. In 2018, she was appointed to the advisory board of the American Watercolor Weekly. She has several books and 4 DVD’s published. She is a signature member of National Watercolor Society, American Watercolor Society, American Impressionist Society and Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, respectively. She was awarded the master artist status from the San Diego Watercolor Society. Since 2021, she has been an Official Savoir-Faire, Sennelier, Cretacolor, Fabriano & Raphael Advocate. She is also an Escoda International Brand Ambassador.

Artist Website: https://www.ktanabefineart.com

Social Media Sites

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ktanabewatercolor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keikotanabewatercolor/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KeikoTanabeFineArt
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@keikotanabewatercolor

DateTime
Monday, October 27, 2025 - Wednesday, October 29, 2025
17 places available.
9:00 AM-4:00 PM

To receive the Member Price, please log in, choose Workshops, then click the blue Sign Up Now button above.  If you are not a CWA member, you may click the Sign Up Now button at any time.  

Alternatively, you may download and print out the Registration Form, fill it out and mail it with your check to the name and address printed on the form.