Strong Drawings, Loose Washes
If you ask a master watercolorist like Geoff Allen, he will tell you that. Geoff's training was quite fragmented, in an interview with Daniel Smith stated that he often felt like he was still catching up with books that reviewed the fundamentals. Geoff Allen is an award-winning watercolor artist who began his creative career in photography and scenic painting. He holds an MFA from Claremont Graduate University and has exhibited across the West Coast. His work blends technical mastery with a sense of spontaneity, capturing fleeting light and mood in outdoor settings.
Even after earning an MFA degree, Geoff truly learned the basics of art-making through books and 10,000 hours of practice with the brush. He took basic art classes but was never part of a comprehensive program from start to finish, but his drawing skills were honed throughout years of on-the-job training, and teaching as he engaged with thousands of students about their work. He believed that much of learning involved being patient with oneself and others, embracing the art-making process as a journey. Keeping the bigger picture in mind helped Geoff to reduce frustration with individual pieces—if something didn’t work, he could simply grab another piece of paper and start again. While practicing plein air, Allen timed his sketches, using fluid washes with fat beads, and employing bold strokes with broken edges to keep his work fresh and loose.
In Allen's arist statement he borrows from Alfred Korzybski’s phrase, “The map is not the territory”, he states that this means that the map is merely a plan and the territory is reacting in the moment, whatever the conditions may be. Geoff says that watercolor echoes this idea of immediacy and nature.
"I find that watercolor is both medium and metaphor, and at times both a blessing and a curse. I love that aspect of art making – when something is slightly out of my control and presents a challenge. It allows me to feel that I am playing with mysterious forces beyond my own understanding."
Allen celebrates many other artists who have inspired him, especially within the watercolor community. He puts his own twist on his art by exploring, experimenting, and following his intuition. He’s been most influenced by a few big names, including Charles Reid, Chein Chung Wei, Joseph Zbukvic, Alvaro Castagnet, and Andy Evansen, among others.
Geoff Allen's is the first painting workshop of the year spanning 4 days from Friday, April 17- Monday, April 20, 2026. Where we will learn the joys of capturing the moment, color and mood in watercolor. This workshop will cover the basic watercolor handling techniques that can speed up your process, loosen you up, and increase your success in capturing outdoor scenes. Beginning and intermediate topics will be first covered in the studio then the class will transition outdoors to paint in plein air.
