Students take watercolor course during three-week session

Students take watercolor course during threeweek session

Assistant Professor of Practice in Studio Art and Foundations Coordinator Byron Anway taught Beginning Watercolor I during the January threeweek session. It is a course taught infrequently in the School of Art, Art History & Design, so it was popular with 40 students enrolling.

“I decided to take this course because it was really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Joselyn Andreasen, a studio art major from Kennard, Nebraska. “As well as watercolor being a mystery to me, and many others, it seems like a good tool to put in my skill set.”

Cicely Pickel, a studio art major from Davey, Nebraska, took the course to count toward her studio art credit.

“It seemed like a less stressful option than taking it during the normal semester length,” she said. “I am also trying to see if I can graduate early, and this seemed like a great opportunity to get that done.”

Anway said he was initially hesitant to teach the class online.

“I was worried students wouldn’t be able to have the communal experience and that it wouldn’t meet this idea in my mind of what it was supposed to be,” he said. “I decided to change. Instead of worrying that it won’t be what it was, I would design the whole class with assignments and activities that were specifically designed to succeed in this remote situation.”

Pickel said she likes how watercolor takes patience, but not necessarily a lot of time.

“I like that it requires a lot of planning before you start painting because watercolor is not as forgiving as oil paint,” she said. “The benefits of taking this in a three-week class are that I was able to apply what I already knew and add so much more information about art history, composition, and what makes a really good painting. Byron was very good at teaching all this important information in a non-stressful, encouraging way.”

Anway hopes to offer the course again.

“This January watercolor course gives students the opportunity to take something that’s not normally offered,” he said. “These three-week courses help students graduate on time, and it’s an opportunity for students outside of art to engage with our department and our curriculum and have an art experience. Everything about it feels kind of like a gift.”  ■

Top: Joselyn Andreasen’s View from her Studio Window assignment.

Left and Bottom Right: Cropped details from Ryan Bromm’s watercolor assignment.