A ZOOM INTENSIVE WITH HAZEL SOAN
Living Watercolor: Animals and Figures That Come Alive
Your paintings look right and still sit flat. Hazel builds form the other way round: light and shade first, detail last. Five works across four live sessions, with her feedback on each.
4 live Zoom sessions · September 28, 30, October 5, 7 · 4:00 PM CEST / 10:00 AM EDT · 2 hours each · Lifetime access to recordings
At a Glance
Hazel Soan · Work in the National Portrait Gallery, the Ritz, the BBC · Art Expert on Channel 4's Watercolour Challenge · 25+ solo exhibitions
"It moves on the paper, which means you cannot entirely dictate your own terms."
Large shapes wet into wet, strong darks and clean lights from a limited palette, texture only after form. That order holds whether you paint a zebra, a face, or a field of horses at full gallop.
Early Bird closes in
25 seats in total across all plans with live access. After that, only recordings.
Is This Intensive Right For You?
Animals and figures are the subjects most watercolor painters avoid. Not because they are harder, but because everyone attacks them with drawing, and watercolor does not reward that.
The shapes are right, the color is right, and it still sits on the paper. You added detail and it got worse. What you need is tonal structure.
With your own photo in front of you, nothing transfers. Hazel names the decision as she makes it, so you leave with the principle, not the picture.
You measure, you outline, you get careful, and the painting dies before the second wash. Watching someone commit to large shapes changes how you start.
You reach a good painting and keep going. Knowing where to put the brush down is a teaching point, not a matter of luck.
New subjects, same system, harder ground: a leopard's markings, a figure held together by shadow, a group in motion.
Hazel's Method
She has written a whole book on the limited palette. Fewer colors mean stronger darks, cleaner lights, and one less decision to make while the paper is still wet.
She says the reason out loud while the brush is moving. Why this value now, why this edge stays soft, why she leaves that patch alone. Nothing is explained after the fact over a finished painting.
The Four Sessions
One principle per session, five paintings, each session building on the one before.
Session 1. Form through light and shade
Two subjects, two ways of building form. On the zebra, line carries the structure and the stripes arrive with the brush. On the pair of rhinoceros, light and shade do the work instead, and you see the difference in your own hand.
Two paintings · September 28 · 4:00 PM CEST / 10:00 AM EDT · 2 hours
Session 2. Form first, texture second
A leopard. Contours and features go down first, spots and rosettes never do. They arrive through brushwork, and only where they endorse the form already there.
One painting · September 30 · 4:00 PM CEST / 10:00 AM EDT · 2 hours
Session 3. Shadow builds the figure
A Maasai askari in a red cloak. Shadow creates form, so anatomy stops being the obstacle. Gesture over accuracy. Opaque pigment for brightness. This session names when to stop.
One painting · October 5 · 4:00 PM CEST / 10:00 AM EDT · 2 hours
Session 4. Implying movement
Race horses and jockeys at speed. Dynamic composition, and the shapes of the gaps between legs, arms and bodies. Everything from the first three sessions, at once.
One painting · October 7 · 4:00 PM CEST / 10:00 AM EDT · 2 hours
What You Will Paint
A zebra, a pair of rhinoceros, a leopard, a figure in motion, and horses at full gallop. Five works, one tonal logic.
These works show what each session covers. Because Hazel paints live, the result on the day will be its own.
Your Instructor: Hazel Soan
"The beauty of painting is that moment when I get carried away."
- Author of more than 15 books on watercolor, published by HarperCollins and Batsford
- Art Expert on Channel 4's Watercolour Challenge and presenter of her own series, Splash of Colour, on Anglia TV
- Work held by the National Portrait Gallery, the BBC, the Ritz and the British Embassy in Ankara
- More than 25 solo exhibitions, from London to Namibia, Venezuela and Zimbabwe
- Studios in London and Cape Town, with a month on safari in Africa every year
What You Leave With
Five finished works
A zebra, a pair of rhinoceros, a leopard, a figure in a red cloak, and a field of horses at full gallop.
A sequence you can repeat on your own photographs
Read the tone, build the form, add texture last. Without rewatching the session.
Animals without anatomy
Shadow does the work. You stop needing to know how the shoulder joint moves.
Texture that reads from across the room
Stripes, spots, fur and folds, all built with the brush, none of them drawn in.
Movement without blur
The gaps between legs, arms and bodies, and why they carry the speed. The reason some action scenes look painted and others look posed.
Your work seen by Hazel
Not watched on video. Her eyes on what you actually painted.
Student Results
From painters who took Hazel's previous Intensive with Artefacto
CHOOSE YOUR PLAN
Early bird offer
Plan
Recording
- Full recordings of all 4 Zoom sessions
- Lifetime access to all recordings — rewatch anytime
- 5 complete painting demonstrations
✗ NO Live participation on Zoom
✗ NO Real-time Q&A with the artist
✗ No feedback provided
Plan
Hazel Complete Collection (Recording)
Everything in the Recording plan, PLUS:
- Full recordings of the 2-Day Intensive - Extra 4 complete painting demonstrations in one collection (9+ hours)
- Lifetime access to the entire Hazel library — rewatch anytime
✗ NO Live participation on Zoom
✗ NO Real-time Q&A with the artist
✗ No feedback provided
Plan
Live + Recording
- Live* participation in all 4 Zoom sessions — paint alongside Hazel in real time
- Personal LIVE feedback from Hazel herself
- Live Q&A with the artist after each session
- Full recordings of all 4 Zoom sessions
- Lifetime access to all recordings — rewatch anytime
- 5 complete painting demonstrations
- Certificate of Completion
Plan
Recording
- Full recordings of all 4 Zoom sessions
- Lifetime access to all recordings — rewatch anytime
- 5 complete painting demonstrations
✗ NO Live participation on Zoom
✗ NO Real-time Q&A with the artist
✗ No feedback provided
Plan
Hazel Complete Collection (Recording)
Everything in the Recording plan, PLUS:
- Full recordings of the 2-Day Intensive - Extra 4 complete painting demonstrations in one collection (9+ hours)
- Lifetime access to the entire Hazel library — rewatch anytime
✗ NO Live participation on Zoom
✗ NO Real-time Q&A with the artist
✗ No feedback provided
Plan
Live + Recording
- Live* participation in all 4 Zoom sessions — paint alongside Hazel in real time
- Personal LIVE feedback from Hazel herself
- Live Q&A with the artist after each session
- Full recordings of all 4 Zoom sessions
- Lifetime access to all recordings — rewatch anytime
- 5 complete painting demonstrations
- Certificate of Completion
Plan
Recording
- Full recordings of all 4 Zoom sessions
- Lifetime access to all recordings — rewatch anytime
- 5 complete painting demonstrations
✗ NO Live participation on Zoom
✗ NO Real-time Q&A with the artist
✗ No feedback provided
Plan
Live + Recording
- Live* participation in all 4 Zoom sessions — paint alongside Hazel in real time
- Personal LIVE feedback from Hazel herself
- Live Q&A with the artist after each session
- Full recordings of all 4 Zoom sessions
- Lifetime access to all recordings — rewatch anytime
- 5 complete painting demonstrations
- Certificate of Completion
Plan
Recording
- Full recordings of all 4 Zoom sessions
- Lifetime access to all recordings — rewatch anytime
- 5 complete painting demonstrations
✗ NO Live participation on Zoom
✗ NO Real-time Q&A with the artist
✗ No feedback provided
Plan
Live + Recording
- Live* participation in all 4 Zoom sessions — paint alongside Hazel in real time
- Personal LIVE feedback from Hazel herself
- Live Q&A with the artist after each session
- Full recordings of all 4 Zoom sessions
- Lifetime access to all recordings — rewatch anytime
- 5 complete painting demonstrations
- Certificate of Completion
Additional learning materials for "Hazel Complete Collection (Recording)" plan
The Art of Expressive Watercolor: 2-Day Painting Intensive with Hazel Soan
Create 4 finished paintings in 2 immersive days with Hazel Soan. A rare chance to grow your confidence and expression in watercolor with one of the most inspiring masters of our time — now available as full recorded sessions you can watch at your own pace!
Value: 199 USD / EUR
NO RISK
Not sure yet?
Full refund before the Intensive starts. If we cancel, you get your money back on any plan.
Bought courses before and never finished them?
Two weeks. Four sessions. You start September 28 and finish October 7.
Not sure your level is right?
Hazel sends the reference and a light pencil outline brief before every session, so you always know what to put on the paper before she starts. The rest is what she teaches.
Materials
Hazel works from a limited palette, so the list is short. Equivalents from other brands work, and nothing needs buying in advance.
Paper. Saunders Waterford or Arches, 100% cotton, 300gsm or heavier, rough or cold pressed, up to 16 inches high.
Paint. Schmincke Horadam artist quality, pans or tubes. Ultramarine Finest green shade and Prussian Blue. Indian Yellow and Aureolin. Cadmium Red or Vermillion, Permanent Rose, Alizarin Crimson. Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Red Ochre. Violet and Transparent Orange.
Brushes. Natural hair rounds in sizes 6, 8 and 10, a 20mm flat, a rigger and a reservoir brush.
Three water pots, and masking fluid for the final session.
The full list goes out before the first session.
Hazel works from a limited palette, so the list is short. Equivalents from other brands work, and nothing needs buying in advance.
Paper. Saunders Waterford or Arches, 100% cotton, 300gsm or heavier, rough or cold pressed, up to 16 inches high.
Paint. Schmincke Horadam artist quality, pans or tubes. Ultramarine Finest green shade and Prussian Blue. Indian Yellow and Aureolin. Cadmium Red or Vermillion, Permanent Rose, Alizarin Crimson. Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Red Ochre. Violet and Transparent Orange.
Brushes. Natural hair rounds in sizes 6, 8 and 10, a 20mm flat, a rigger and a reservoir brush.
Three water pots, and masking fluid for the final session.
The full list goes out before the first session.
FAQ
Still have questions?
Our team is here to help. Not sure which plan is right for you? Just reach out — we'll guide you in a few minutes.
Contact us
There is a moment in every one of Hazel's paintings where the animal stops being paint. Nothing was labored over, nothing was filled in. The shadow landed in the right place and the thing came alive.
That moment is not talent. It is a sequence, and you can watch it happen four times, close enough to ask her about it.
Live seats close September 28 or when the last one goes.