Painting Seminar
Are you looking to improve your watercolor techniques, understand how to choose colors and create balanced and engaging compositions?
Check out this brand new crash course.
Watercolor painting 2.0
This newly improved 1 on 1 seminar, based on over twenty years of experience, will give you all the knowledge you need to plan and execute your paintings from A to Z. We will focus on the key elements to a successful artwork: UNDERSTANDING AND CHOOSING COLORS, COMPOSITION, TECNIQUES.
This is not a collection of short-lived tricks or a tutorial on how to paint a flash, it’s a deep, comprehensive study of all the basic theory behind a painting. The universal concepts examined are then applicable to whichever style or motif you choose to represent, being tattoo related or not.
No entry level is required as we start from the very basics and develop progressively.
This new format is a 1 on 1 session –not a group- where I will personally connect with you to address your very specific needs.
After you buy the product in the shop(button below) please email me and we will find together the date and time that fits you best.
This course includes:
1) Seven hours of streaming content resuming 20 years of experience and practice in:
COLOR THEORY
- Light and perception
- Historical background
- Color wheel constitutive elements
- Understanding color schemes and harmony
- Compositional structure of color
COMPOSITION
- Basics of perception and definition
- Hierarchy of Composition
- Tools to create more engaging compositions
- Driving the painting’s narrative
- Elements and Principles of design
- Composition types
- Planning a composition: what to remember and what to avoid
- Assignments: how to practice
TECHNIQUES
- Fundamental watercolor techniques
- Demonstration
- Advanced techniques
BONUS SECTIONS
- MINDSET
- PRODUCTIVITY
2) PDFs with a comprehensive overview of tools and materials used in watercolor, key points and extra resources.
3) Live class via Zoom covering:
–Q&A on all the video material and PDF’s you received
-Technical review, individual improvement assessment and progression strategy
-Painting critiques: You will be asked to send over a painting or illustration so that together we can find room for improvement and look at different angles to approach your style, layout and technique.
Requirements: No level is required as it will start from the fundamentals, addressing individual specific issues. This course will give you all the theoretical tools you need to start painting, even if you never touched a brush. For those more experienced it will deepen your techniques, enabling to expand your vision with a newly acquired structure.
Price of the seminar: 449$
**Undertaking training that updates existing business or professional skills and expertise (seminars and courses such as this) is tax deductible in many countries.
Testimonials
I thoroughly enjoyed the mentorship program, there was a very flexible approach tailored to what I wanted to strengthen but also to parts that have helped me in ways that I had not originally thought of.
The classes are delivered eloquently and very attentive to detail, which means business but are also light-hearted and there were a few laughs along the way. Every so often there would be feedback sessions where there was the opportunity for me to recap into previous parts, submit work where I had put into practice what was learned in the classes, and plenty of honest constructive feedback.
Stef is very steadfast in going “to the roots and not the fruits”, and “simplify and optimize” which are statements that have not only helped me be more structured in my approach but also targeted individual elements I want to improve on. I have developed tools from this program that will be with me for life, references, and books that are amazing, every part of this program has been well thought through.
You get a real sense of passion and care from Stef, you can feel that the improvement of the individual is important to Stef and not just about money.
I can honestly say I looked forward to every single class and assignment and the 3 months flew by all too fast. I love how this didn’t just focus on tattooing, but health, mindset, painting, structure, routine, and discipline which are all transferable skills.
In my mind the program is not over, I will be using the time that would have been in class to isolate skills and further practice what we have learned. It’s been a lovely journey and certainly won’t be the last! Thank you, Stef for all your time, patience, and attention 🙏🏼 It’s been a superb experience and I would highly recommend it!
I have had the best time taking part in this mentorship! Every session I felt energized and excited to take on the assignments. With each session, I was well-informed and not feeling like I had gaps in the information. There is room throughout the program to take in the information along with dedicated questions sessions that solidified that this is a personalized mentorship.
You can’t fault Stef’s energy and enthusiasm, as it’s infectious! Making you want to get out there and put it all into practice then and there. Taking it back to basics really gives you an effective understanding of how designs work.
Stef sharing his knowledge and time was the progression I needed in what is considered the “middle years” of my career. He has given me the tools to critically self-edit but also to continue my further learning with an objective eye. This has given strength to my “why” I work in this career, spending time with Stef really has fuelled the fire in my pursuit to be a better artist.
The tools I have gained throughout the three months are lifelong and have a better understanding of the images and reference materials we all have access to.
Thank you, Stef for giving me an opportunity to learn and for putting together a comprehensive experience.
I recently had the privilege of taking part in Stef Bastiàn’s newly offered mentorship program. I consider Stef to be somewhat of a sage of modern tattooing; an invaluable asset to the tattoo community and its trajectory moving forward as well its preservation of the past. As such, I was quite excited to dive into this course, learn and grow, and see what would come of it.
For our sessions, Stef had a structured but also organic and open approach to teaching. He has a strong belief in the fundamentals and foundational tools that shape the core of our ability as artists. Stef is an expert at deconstructing a masterpiece (whether tattoo or painting), and turning it into an approachable lesson, relating the steps involved to the strong foundational undercurrent in any truly great piece of art. And most importantly, acknowledging the sources of influence and the history of each art style. We also touched on mindset- such an important part of a career as a tattooer that is too often overlooked.
Sometimes I was prompted to ask questions about anything I wished to learn or “question sessions”. These would inevitably lead to some great teaching moments and good conversation; a testament to the wide range of knowledge, experience, and insight Stef has toward almost any topic.
Throughout the course, Stef always made himself readily available despite the massive timezone difference we share, and despite the fact that he is always on the go to conventions, creating podcasts, making giant beautiful paintings, or healing from getting jumped – the dude is consistent!
It felt as if each segment of our teachings could have ultimately been a 3-month course in and of itself. Stef put the effort in to cover a ton of content in a compressed format while simultaneously being flexible to adapting and evolving the course to suit my preferences. Stef truly enjoys the act of teaching and it’s clear he wants to push the community in a positive direction.
I appreciate the time and effort that was put into this program by Stef and would recommend it to any tattooer that’s looking for some new perspective and some guidance in multiple aspects of their career. We are all extremely fortunate to have tattooing as not only a profession but a sort of path to walk in life. The progression only plateaus if you allow it.
There’s so much to learn, so much history, so much to adapt to, so many relationships to form, and enough potential for continued growth to carry on through multiple lifetimes, really. The best part about this course, in my opinion, is that it sets you up with some sharp tools and frameworks to get you that much further down the path.
Thanks, Stef!”
You’ll get out of it what you put into it. There is no game-changing, magic bullet when it comes to mastering a craft such as tattooing. However, enrolling in Stef’s mentorship program you’ll get a little glimpse into the world of a very thoughtful, studied, practical tattooer.
Stef drills in his motto -- simplify and optimize, and his course reflects that ethos as well. The course has a lot of breadth covering some history of eastern and western tattooing, drawing fundamentals, color theory, and some mind set orientation.
I especially like the room that Stef left in the course to switch gears and really dive deeper into the topic that the mentee feels interested in. Stef is overflowing with information and exclusive content that would keep anyone busy for at least a year. Videos from other experts about certain niche techniques, dropboxes full of old classic traditional tattoo flash, art books as well as nonfiction to deepen an understanding on a topic, there is seriously so much stuff that he’ll send you throughout the course that I believe I’ll be going back for years to references things we spoke about.
Ultimately one part that can’t go understated is that Stef is a genuine, joyful, hardworking person. I am amazed at the amount of hours he puts into the program. In pure accounting terms you are getting your money’s worth out of how many hours he dedicates to you. Beyond the scheduled weekly zoom 1 on 1 sessions, he invites you to send over drawings for tattoos or projects you have coming up and I was amazed and the amount of detail and energy he put into critiques.
Since the program I’ve felt a lot more joy in the practice of drawing, I’ve got an idea of where I’d like to be in a year, and I know how to break it down into digestible pieces to get myself there. That’s the value of the program.
Stef’s mentorship has opened my eyes to the amount of knowledge, history, philosophy and work ethic that needs to be in tattooing. He provided an extremely easy to navigate learning system, where you can keep teaching yourself for the rest of your life following his guidelines.
The mentorship was designed with my specific interests in focus and he also presented information I didn’t even know I needed.
It covers basic drawing like 3D shapes and perspective, anatomy, composition, color theory, American traditional, Japanese, mindset/organization, creative process and life advice. It’s incredible to have one on one access to his guidance. Don’t miss out on this!”
Three months of non stop growing, that's what it felt like taking Stef Bastian's mentorship program. My ears were seriously fuming with the amount of knowledge Stef was pile driving into them for weeks!
The amount of preparation and respect to the craft was obvious, every week I was inundated with hours of tutorials, practice assignments and discussion topics. Stef really gives his all and is generous with the amount of time and consideration he gives, we would often go over time and offers advice in between sessions to get you to your goals. Major take aways from the mentorship are a refined sense of drawing fundamentals, perspective, anatomy and color theory, tattoo history, fundamentals in traditional American and Japanese Tattooing and help with other tattoo styles and themes.
After finishing the 3 months of rigorous studying, practicing and critiques I am left feeling like I have built a stronger foundation in my art and continue to practice and improve on my own with new tools, the knowledge to self regulate and learn. This mentorship was a real joy to take and if you are willing to be vulnerable and push yourself, it would be an invaluable experience for any artist to take who wishes to improve their practice.
Thank you so much Stef!
Working with Stef for 3 months has been an amazing and eye opening experience. Stef is incredibly knowledgeable, kind, and understanding of everyone’s individual needs. It’s clear when you meet him for the first time that he has a genuine passion for teaching and guiding artists.
The whole program was more well rounded than I ever could have hoped, focusing on everything from drawing basics to tattoo history and also mindset. There is also time allotted each week to discuss individual interests. Stef has two mottos that he repeats throughout the program: “Simplify and optimize” and “Go to the roots, not the fruits”. He did an amazing job designing a program that teaches these principles while also teaching you to be self sufficient.
This is not a 3 month program that gives you all the answers, this is a program that sets you up with the knowledge to continue your educational journey for the rest of your life.