[Note: This post by Evelyn] I had my last watercolor lesson with Alberto Soriano, a world class Ecuadorian painter, today. It was an honor and privilege  for me to learn from such a talented artist, and be so welcomed into his world. Alberto is quite passionate, warm, with a positive energy, that is absolutely inspiring.

One of the biggest challenges is that Alberto speaks no English and I speak almost no Spanish. However we were able to communicate with visual demonstrations of the principles, as well as my learning a bit more Spanish along the way. To discuss concepts, we resorted to using the Google Translator via Alberto’s 16-year old daughter, who aspires to be a rock star.

The first  lesson was  the importance of “dibujo” and the value of a  “bosquejo“. Of course, it helps to spell the words correctly before it can be translated, so it took several iterations before I understood that I had to start with a good value sketch using different cross hatching marks to represent various planes. And, good drawing (“dibujo“) skills were essential to being a good painter.

The first few paintings included still life, plants, and sun flowers, in which Alberto kept emphasizing “mas agua..mas aqua.. poco color” to retain the transparency of a watercolor compared to an oil painting. Then, it was the emphasis on “sombra“, “luz“, “voluminous“, “fondo“, “primero plano” and  “manchas” — the latter of which, doesn’t translate properly in my Spanish dictionary. The dictionary translation for “mancha” is “stain or mark”. It wasn’t understood until later that the word really meant “layer“, so the lighter colors are applied “antes” (before), and dark layers “dispues” (later), completing the painting with “detalles“.

Toward the end of the lessons, it seemed so natural to talk and laugh together between student and teacher. I felt like a slow learner, though. Here are the final two paintings:

Near the end of my private lessons, Alberto had a show and sale of his works. I couldn’t help buying one for myself: