Richard Chao's Workshop is supported by Winsor & Newton you are welcome to browse and buy your materials with - up to 60% discount - thanks to Eckersley's Art and Craft!

- Portraiture - Capturing the Human Spirit -

We will reconvene back into the Court House Gallery – Main Court Room 10am to 2.30pm for a Step-by-Step instruction to enable the participants to finish a portrait by the end of the day.

Richard will give a brief introduction to material and the knowledge on colour that he has chosen to capture the tonal patterns of his Subject.

** Please note - this Workshop is to be booked independent to the bus trip to the Quinkan Caves - Participants who cannot or choose not to travel to the Caves will be provided with some copies of the materials and sketches Richard has made while on site at the Quinkan Caves the previous day.

Workshop Outline

Step One: Drawing

1. A brief introduction to composition and sketch
2. A quick demonstration
3. Participants practice 

Step Two: Basic Tone

1. A brief introduction to background and skin tone
2. A quick demonstration
3. Participants practice

Step Three: Details

1. A brief introduction to structure of a head (Skull and muscles)
2. A quick demonstration
3. Participants practice

Step Four: Adjusting

1. A brief introduction to finalising by balancing tone and value
2. A quick demonstration
3. Participants practice

Materials to Bring

• At least 1 x Half sheet 300g cotton watercolour paper, medium/rough preferred
• 1 x round brush (or Chinese brush) and
• 1 x flat brush one in each size of large, medium and a small
• a packet of watercolour (minimum 12 colours, which should include Ultra-marine, Cobalt-blue, Black, Burnt-umber),
• a jar/bucket to wash your brush in
• Kitchen towel
• a pencil and eraser
• a board and masking tape to mount you paper to - this is essential for you to be able to work well and lift and move your paper around while working.

Timeframe and Breaks: 10am to 2.30pm – with lunch and morning tea breaks to enable students to get coffee and snacks from the many local cafes around – and/or ByO own lunch is acceptable to be eaten on the verandas of the Court House and enjoy the restoration of this amazing venue.

Competency level: All levels.

Richard Tiejun Chao

Richard is a Sydney based watercolorist, M.A. in Oil Painting. Master member of IWS.

What is exciting for him is to apply realistic technique to experiment the possibility of watercolor in depicting the subject’s innermost being. His subjects are mainly the common people in life. However, every one of them is a manifestation of their own cultural backgrounds, religious beliefs and life experiences. They are from all walks of life, living at different corners of the world. In this sense, each of them is unique. What Richard is looking for is the core of their uniqueness. That is, their hope, purity, devotion, happiness or hardship. 

He’s been a winner or a finalist in 23 prizes world-wide and his art works have been exhibited in more than 5 continents in last few years.

Meanwhile, his artworks and his interviews are published on the cover page and inside pages of the international leading journal “The Art of Watercolor”.

He is the one of the representative Artists of the Watercolor Community of Australia in FabrianoInAcquarello - Italy since 2018 to date, and presented the first public Artist demonstration in Fabriano, Italy, 2018.

Refund Policy |

You can book your Workshop with confidence - knowing that we will refund the Workshop Fee - less $AUD10.00 Booking fee to cover bank and admin charges - provided we are notified in writing via our CONTACT FORM - dated one week prior to the commencement of the Australian Watercolour Muster Biennale - 2023 i.e. 30th August 2023.

Cancellations after this date will be refunded at 50% of the Booking Fee, and at the discretion of the Curator of the Australian Watercolour Muster - Wyn Vogel - depending on the critical circumstances and again notified in writing via our CONTACT FORM - with your phone number and details of the Workshop / Event you are wishing to cancel. A booking fee of $AUD10.00 will be applied to these late cancellations.