Diana Toma GWS Workshop Oct 2026

I recently attended a 3 day workshop offered as part of the 2026 Georgia Watercolor Society's Members Show held at OCAF.

Diana Toma was be the Judge of the show, and instructor of the 3 day workshop.  She also had an exhibition of her own on display at OCAF: Watercolors versus Acrylics, which places a painting in each media of a similar subject side by side, asking the viewer to compare.  Diana is known for her expressive watercolor and acrylic paintings, and her exhibit showcased her talent in both media.

In the morning of the first day we worked on using light and dark paint to provide shape and depth.  We used a photo of red roses for our inspiration and a large round brush (mop).  Starting by putting down  red petals.  Darkening each flower's center and shadows. Lifting some areas to provide highlights.  Finally, using a flat brush to add swipes of greens for the background leaves.  The large strokes of color give the painting a spontaneous feeling which I liked.

In the afternoon we painted small bouquet of flowers. This looked like a tipical still life. Not my best flower painting, but it did give me the opportunity to work with more colors from the Paul Rubens Watercolor Paint Set of 24 half pans of Vivid Colors Water Colors I purchased for the workshop. For this workshops I used the same paints as the instructor.  You can see the paint set in the photo on the left above.

           

Day two we played with an experimental technique that was new to me and so much fun.  It required: plastic wrap, dish soap and a straw.   First the watercolor paper was taped down to a water proof board.  Next a piece of plastic wrap the same size as the paper was placed next to the paper.  Several splatters of different colors were put on the plastic wrap.  A few drops of dish soap was added to a small cup of water.  We used a straw to blow bubbles, letting them overflow onto the watercolor paper creating a mound in the center.  The plastic wrap was carefully placed on top ot the bubbles, pressing down the edges to the paper (photo below left).  The paint slowly migrates around the bubbles to the paper creating a unique bubble pattern.  When the bubbles have popped, the plastic wrap is removed and the paper is left to dry (photo below right).  

I did a second bubble paper using a limited palette of brown, orange and blues.  Once dry, the paper was used as a background tor a painting of a rocky beach with a starfish (photo on the left).  I shaded the larger bubbles to look like rocks, and added a starfish.  I could have added shells, fish or waves to the bubble painting (photo on the right).  This technique can be used to create rocks for a waterfall, a path or just an interesting background.

 

Day three we worked on portraits.  In the morning we did quick 2, 5 and 10 minute loose watercolor sketches of the same photo (photo on the left below).  We spent the rest of the morning finishing one of our sketches.  I finished my 5 min sketch (photo on the right below).

In the afternoon we worked on a second portrait (on the left below).  We dd a rouch pencil sketch, marking divisions of shapes and highlights.  Then painted working from large loose areas to small precise areas.  I don't paint portraits, but I rather liked how this one turned out (on the right below).  

 

  

Costa Rican Great Green Macaw watercolor

 Costa Rico is a beautiful country, with tropical coasts, misty forests, volcanos and spectacular wildlife.  In 2024 I want on an Audubon birding trip to Costa Rico and was saw an amazing variety of birds.  One particular photo from that trip stood out  as one that needed to be painted.  A Great Green Macaw (Ara ambiguus), that was pertched in the opening of a very large tree.  

Two years later, I finally painted the Macaw.  To the left is the rough draft I used to work out the overall design of the painting and color pallate:

I used Yellow, Red, Blue, Black to make the various shades of grey-green, grey-yellow bark, dark interior of the hole, and the vivid colors of the Macaw.  

Below is the finished painting.  It is almost twice as large, and tightly cropped to emphasize the bird in the hollow.  

 

Winter watercolors

After the recent workshops on perspective and snow, I began work on a painting of a house in the snow.  The reference photo is an extreme angle, but I really like it.  The roof and door of the house are dark green.  The leaves on the trees are also dark green.  The sides of the house are tan-yellow, and the wood of the picket fence is a weathered gray-brown.  However the dominant color is the white of the snow storm.

In my test painting I started by masking everything that was a shade of white, and added some random aplatter for the falling snow.  When the masking was dry, I painted the pale purple-blue sky, the green roof of the house and leaves, the tan-yellow of the house.  When the paint had dried, I removed the masking, and painted in shadows and did some touchup work. 

I used a pallet similar to the one I used for the Georgia Watercolor Society Aug 2025 workshop with Iain Stewart:  

• Undersea green
• Phalo blue turquoise
• Colbalt turquoise
• Verditer blue
• Lavender
• Cadmium Scarlet
• Naples yellow
• Burnt Siena
• Panes Gray