Exploring Charcoal Lines and Watercolour with Alfonso Tejada

to
Harmony Arts Festival
Demos and Workshops
Ferry Building Gallery - West side
Hands-on demo 
Cost: Free
No registration required
The image captures a man intently focused on painting a watercolor artwork. He is positioned in the foreground, facing left and slightly away from the viewer, engrossed in his creative process. The man has dark hair, pulled back loosely, and is wearing dark sunglasses. He is dressed in a white polo shirt with the collar popped. His left arm is holding the edge of the painting's paper, while his right hand holds a paintbrush, actively applying color to the canvas. His posture suggests concentration and dedic
 

Join perennial festival favourite Alfonso Tejada for a fully interactive, hands‑on experience. Participants are welcome to follow along step by step as he moves from an initial sketch to a finished painting. The goal is to share a creative process that values exploration over perfection—an opportunity to play with colour, shape, and line in a way that feels personal and expressive.

This session is about freedom: freedom to experiment, to loosen up, and to enjoy the act of making art. Drawing skills are not the focus. What matters is the impression you create, the energy of your marks, and the joy of discovering what colour and form can do.

For the sketching stage, Alfonso will be working with charcoal and Conté crayon on bond paper or Pacon paper (available at Opus). For the painting stage, he will be using watercolours on Arches or Baohong 300 GSM (140 lb) paper, though any equivalent will work. He recommends avoiding 120 lb paper, as it tends to buckle; a pad format—such as the Stonehenge Aqua Cold Press Pad (15 sheets, 10" x 14")—or a full sheet (20" x 30") cut into quarters and mounted on a firm backing will give you a much better surface to work on.

Participants can also work with HB or 6B pencils on any paper they have and bring their own colour palette. A simple warm–cool double triad (two yellows, two blues, two reds) is more than enough. The small Cotman palette from Opus—available in 8‑ or 12‑colour sets—is a great option. His full palette includes: Hansa Yellow, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Alizarin Crimson, Opera Rose, Cadmium Orange, Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Teal, Quinacridone Violet, Viridian, Sap Green, Serpentine Genuine, Sepia, Neutral Tint, Lavender, and Wisteria.


About the artist:

The image displays a comparison of four artistic interpretations of the same architectural scene, presented in a grid format. Each quadrant showcases the same subject rendered in a different medium: Conte crayon, watercolor, and Sharpie pen, with one quadrant having two distinct interpretations.
Alfonso’s professional experience is as an Architect and Urban Designer, and his passion for the arts was forged in a parallel way during his initial studies in Guanajuato, Mexico, where he learned drawing, watercolour, and metal engraving. His professional development in Canada over the last 46 years has merged the arts, architecture and urban design and has provided him with the opportunity to teach architectural design studies at UBC and work professionally across North and South America, Asia, and Europe. 

Alfonso is actively involved in international exhibitions of “plein air” painting in Spain, Portugal, Italy and China, leads workshops in Mexico and Italy, and participates in invitational international events. 
 

Artist website

 

Artist website