Gouache Mentorship
Adult Online Art | Available
Online on Zoom | Weekly – 3 Tuesdays | Apr 1, 8, 15 2025 | 10am-1pm Arizona Time (*always on MST) | recording will be available after the class - for up to two months
This three-week online workshop is designed to help painters learn the secrets on how to use gouache effectively for landscape painting (hint: it's about layers). If you're frustrated with tricky value shifts as gouache dries, or if you're ending up with chalky or muddy paintings, not to worry! Whether you're looking to use gouache in the studio or out in the field en plein air, this class will help you master the power of this versatile medium. Mixing and managing paint layers with confidence will be a core theme throughout the series. We'll discuss how to build up paintings quickly and cleanly so you'll walk away knowing how to design and execute a landscape with speed and freshness—and you'll learn the little gouache tricks that can make paintings truly sparkle.
The class format will follow one part lecture and one part demo each day (favoring demos). This workshop will include weekly digital paintover critiques (optional) to provide guidance and suggestions to help you get where you want to go with your painting. Total beginners are welcomed, but this class is also a great refresh for painters switching mediums or looking for new inspiration.
Judd Mercer
Judd Mercer is a contemporary landscape painter and Colorado native obsessed with telling stories through light. Working en plein air and in the studio, Judd explores the tension that exists between ourselves and the landscape and plays with our relationship to wild, exhilarating vastness. Always on the hunt for transient, magic moments that exist in secret places along roads less traveled, Judd seeks to capture the powerful wonder permeating even the quietest scenes. Judd works in both oil and gouache and frequently participates in plein air invitational events across the country.
Teaching Philosophy
Interests in design, illustration, and storyboarding allow me to pair traditional painting skills with emotional storytelling—concepts that help to better capture the story of a landscape. Having mentored designers professionally, I’ve come to realize that attitude and intent are essential for students, and a good teacher helps frame a mindset. Students can get easily discouraged early on and a teacher’s job is to break down the process into manageable (but challenging) parts. Students need to experience small successes to get excited about the process, rather than the goal of producing finished work. A commitment to sustained practice is really where success and joy come from. I help people relax and let go of expectations to create an environment in which learning is easier—and more fun."