Water Lilies in Watercolor

Watercolor — Live Online Workshop with Sophia Rodionov

🗓 July 18, 2026 (Saturday)
🕖 19:00 Jerusalem Time
⏳ Duration: ~3.5–4 hours (with a 20-minute break)
📹 Recording — lifetime access for everyone who enrolls or subscription access while your subscription is active

Water lilies have a quiet kind of magic — they float between two worlds, resting on the surface of the water while a whole life moves beneath them. There is stillness in them, and light, and a softness that feels almost like a held breath.

In this workshop, we will explore how to paint water lilies in watercolor in a way that feels alive, luminous, and free — while still holding structure, form, and that delicate glow of light on water.

We will create two large artworks (12×16"), each in a slightly different approach — combining loose watercolor flow with intentional decisions that bring clarity, atmosphere, and character to the subject.

Before painting, we will spend time on drawing preparation, where I will guide you through:

• how to simplify a complex flower
• how to see the water lily as basic shapes and volumes
• how to avoid getting stuck in petals and details
• and how to keep that feeling of freedom even in a more delicate, structured subject
  
  

Because in loose watercolor, the key is not just technique — it's the ability to decide:

👉 what to paint
👉 what to leave undefined
👉 and where to let watercolor speak for you

💡 What We Will Paint

🎨 Painting 1 — Expressive Water Lily Study

We'll start with a more direct and intuitive approach on a light background, focusing on:

• capturing the delicate, floating character of the flower
• working with simplified petal shapes
• building volume and form through tonal contrast
• keeping the water open, fresh, and suggestive

This piece will help you warm up and understand how to balance control and freedom.



🎨 Painting 2 — Water Lily with Atmosphere (Wet-on-Wet, dark water)

In the second artwork, we will go deeper into watercolor flow:

• working on wet paper (from both sides)
• letting the flower glow against deep, dark water
• creating soft reflections, ripples, and movement of light
• combining loose washes with selected sharp details

This is where the water lily becomes not just a subject —
but part of a living pond of color, light, and reflection.

Workshop Schedule

🔵 Part 1 — Preparation: understanding the subject, drawing, tonal values, composition, color planning

🔵 Part 2 — Painting:

Painting 1 (loose on a light background) + Painting 2 (wet-on-wet with dark water)

☕️ 20-minute break in a middle

🎨 What You Will Learn

• how to look at a delicate flower and simplify it without losing its beauty
• how to build form and volume with loose, confident brushwork
• how to paint water, light, and reflection around the flower
• how to use tonal contrast and color temperature to create depth
• how to work wet-on-wet with intention — not just by chance
• how to create two paintings that feel completely different from each other
• how to develop your own interpretation of a subject, not just copy a reference

🌳 Who This Workshop Is For

• watercolor artists who love florals and water scenes and want to paint them with more freedom
• those who feel overwhelmed by petals and reflections and want a clear approach
• artists who want to explore the contrast between light and dark backgrounds
• anyone who wants to paint more expressively and stop overworking their paintings
• beginners and intermediate painters who want to understand watercolor logic more deeply

🌳 Why Join Live

Painting together live is a completely different experience from watching a recording alone.

You stay focused. You move through the process step by step. You can ask questions in real time. And there is something about painting at the same moment as others — it keeps you present, and it keeps you going.

There will be a Q&A session throughout, and I'll guide you as if we are painting side by side.

And of course — if you can't join live, you will receive the full recording

Community & Support

You'll also have the option to join our private community space, where you can:

• share your artworks
• ask questions
• receive feedback (if you want it)
• connect with other artists

Access

After the workshop, the recording will be uploaded to your Library,
where you can watch and paint at your own pace.

💎 THE FLOW ROOM INFORMATION

Before you decide — there are two paths here.

If this class speaks to you and you'd like to have it as your own — you can purchase it directly below, with lifetime access.

But if you find yourself returning to learn again and again, The Flow Room might be a more natural home for you. It's a subscription studio where this class is already included — alongside streams, workshops, and immersive learning — across three tiers: Emerald, Lapis Lazuli and Amethyst.

This very workshop belongs to Lapis Lazuli and Amethyst tiers.

Both paths lead to the same painting table. The question is how you like to travel.