Registration opens:
October 10th, 2025

Watercolor for Beginners

Instructed by Phil Courtney

Registration REQUIRED for this 4-week class.

All events are tentatively scheduled and may change. Please see the CMCL Events Calendar on our website, follow us on social media, and subscribe to our weekly eNewsletter for any and all updates.

This class is for anyone who would like to try their hand at painting with watercolors. It is a fun way to be creative and open to the surprises of the medium without fear of failing. Phil will introduce the essential materials, how they are used and demonstrate the process of watercolor painting from the beginning, including mixing the paints, choosing colors, and using a variety of brushes. We will discuss drawing, composition, color and design. Students will play with the paint, water and brushes to learn how to create special effects with layering colors and washes. With individualized instruction, you will learn the basic skills of watercolor to go forward with your own creative style and continue watercolor painting as a lifetime practice of great enjoyment.

Attendees must bring the following materials (specific brands are just suggestions): 

PAPER:

• One 9”x12” watercolor pad - Arches 140lb Cold Press Watercolor Pad, or a less expensive Swarthmore Cold Press pad
• If you have full sheets of 22” x 30" paper, cut a sheet down into quarters.

BRUSHES:

• Bring a variety of WATERCOLOR round and flat brushes. I mostly use synthetic brushes. It's hard to recommend brushes because there are so many companies making brushes. Try to buy brushes that are only made for Watercolor.
• Some top brush brands: Rosemary & Co, Da Vinci, Robert Simmons, Escoda
• Some student grade brushes: Windsor & Newton Cotman, Princeton, Blick

PALETTE:

• Bring whatever palette you have. I use the Masterson Aqua-Pro Watercolor Palette

PAINT:

• I am currently using Winsor & Newton, Holbein, Daniel Smith and Michael Harding. Another option is to buy a set of paints. NOTE: Some colors are toxic, mostly if ingested, so do research if you are concerned.
• BASIC COLORS: CADMIUM LEMON, VAN DYKE BROWN, CERULEAN BLUE, CADMIUM ORANGE, YELLOW OCHRE, FRENCH ULTRAMARINE BLUE, CADMIUM RED DEEP, RAW SIENNA, PHTHALO BLUE, ALIZARIN CRIMSON, BURNT SIENNA, PURPLE or VIOLET
• OPTIONAL COLORS: OPERA, a vivid pink made by Holbein, PHTHALO GREEN, made by Daniel Smith, HORIZON BLUE, made by Holbein, COBALT BLUE

OTHER SUPPLIES:

• HB #2 Pencils & eraser
• 2 or 3 Watercolor Containers for washing out brushes
• Paper Towels - you may go through 10 full sheets per class.
• Ruler, 12” to 18” long
• Masking tape or blue painters tape
• 2 boards to tape down your paper ( make sure your board is a little bigger than your paper

This is a 4-class series being held Fridays, 1:30pm-3:30pm at the Cape May City branch:

• Oct. 24th
• Oct. 31st
• Nov. 7th
• Nov. 14th

All registrants are required to attend the first class of a series. If absent, your spot will be given to the next in line on the Waitlist.

Phil Courtney is a graduate of The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Phila, PA. Following his education, he was employed as a billboard artist for outdoor advertisers in the Philadelphia area for more than twenty-five years. Phil began showing his own work after moving to Cape May, NJ in 1995 with his wife and children. His work has been shown locally at the former Washington Street Gallery, the SOMA NewArt Gallery, the FAN Gallery in Phila., The Ferry Gallery at the former Ferry Park. His work is also part of several private collections in South Jersey.

Phil has also participated in the John Peto Museum International Juried Art Exhibitions. The Nature Center of Cape May featured Phil as their artist in residence for their annual fundraiser in 2019, “Catch of Cape May”. Phil’s painting in oil, “Magnolia Seed Pod” was featured in the 2021 July/August edition of Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine in the article, “Blooms for Us All”. “Money Plant”, a watercolor by Phil, was selected for the Philadelphia Watercolor Society’s 121st Anniversary International Exhibition of Works on Paper, in 2021. His painting received the PWCS 121st Exhibition Award. Phil also participated as a Signature member of the Philadelphia Watercolor Society in the PWS 122nd Anniversary International Exhibition of Works on Paper in 2022.

Phil has been teaching watercolor workshops for the past several years in the Cape May area and at the Rehoboth Art League. He paints a variety of subjects, indoors and out, using oils or watercolors. He is proficient in both mediums. Phil has developed techniques for capturing the unique atmospheric conditions of the seashore, and the play of sunlight and shadows cast by the intricate details of Cape May Victorian architecture. His oil paintings of flowers capture the very essence of their purity with the freshness of being just picked. They are luminescent and elegant, calling attention to the intricacies, textures, and the collaborating parts of the living whole.

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