|
Jim Turner
January 26, 27 and 28, 2026 9 am - 4 pm (1 hour for lunch) "Fun with YUPO!" All levels welcome Fee: $369 payable to Wanda Boyd Please use the registration form to mail in payment. or Click to pay via PayPal |
Jim Turner
|
Workshop Description:
This workshop is for anyone interested in exploring the unique characteristics of YUPO. YUPO is a smooth inorganic (plastic) surface that accepts paint in a very different way than paper. Because the paint sits on the surface instead of being absorbed, it flows, mixes and can give a very fluid abstract "liquid" look to washes that can be very appealing (and frustrating, if you are trying to "control" it.) The surface also allows colors to be more intense, giving a stained glass look that is amazing, and makes lifting easy, allowing a push-pull method of composition similar to working with opaque paints.
This workshop is intended to give you a variety of ways to approach the unique characteristics of YUPO. We will take advantage of the abstract, flowing "liquid' look of wet-into-wet application and experiment with stamping, texturing, lifting and even texturing with foam rollers. We will talk about design and how to go from the crazy accidental abstraction of YUPO to finished work. We will also talk about "taming" YUPO to do representational work, flattening washes, graded washes, etc.
Come if you are a beginner and want to have fun playing with paint, if you are an accomplished watercolorist who wants to explore a new surface, or anyone in between who wants to expand their horizons and try something new.
The participant can expect to finish at least a couple of completed or nearly completed paints in three days.
Click for Supply List
This workshop is for anyone interested in exploring the unique characteristics of YUPO. YUPO is a smooth inorganic (plastic) surface that accepts paint in a very different way than paper. Because the paint sits on the surface instead of being absorbed, it flows, mixes and can give a very fluid abstract "liquid" look to washes that can be very appealing (and frustrating, if you are trying to "control" it.) The surface also allows colors to be more intense, giving a stained glass look that is amazing, and makes lifting easy, allowing a push-pull method of composition similar to working with opaque paints.
This workshop is intended to give you a variety of ways to approach the unique characteristics of YUPO. We will take advantage of the abstract, flowing "liquid' look of wet-into-wet application and experiment with stamping, texturing, lifting and even texturing with foam rollers. We will talk about design and how to go from the crazy accidental abstraction of YUPO to finished work. We will also talk about "taming" YUPO to do representational work, flattening washes, graded washes, etc.
Come if you are a beginner and want to have fun playing with paint, if you are an accomplished watercolorist who wants to explore a new surface, or anyone in between who wants to expand their horizons and try something new.
The participant can expect to finish at least a couple of completed or nearly completed paints in three days.
Click for Supply List
Images are representational
|
|
|
Jim's Bio:
Jim Turner is a Minnesota-based watercolorist who specializes in the expressive possibilities of YUPO, an unabsorbent synthetic paper that encourages fluid, abstract washes and intense, "stained-glass" color effects. With a career that began in engineering and medicine, Jim transitioned to full-time painting in the mid-1990s, studying under masters like Mel Stabin, Steven Quiller, Dale Laitinen, Mark Mehaffey, and John Salminen—all while balancing a medical practice and family responsibilities.
His bold approach embraces the unpredictable “push-pull” of wet-on-wet techniques, along with texturing, lifting, and graphic abstraction, translating accidental forms into refined compositions.
A signature member of the Minnesota Watercolor Society and the American Watercolor Society—having even earned the Francis Neil Storer Memorial Award at AWS—Jim has garnered multiple “Best of Show” honors at plein-air events like Grand Marais and Red Wing, and at Minnesota’s State Fair.
Now retired from medicine, he brings his enthusiasm for experimentation to skilled watercolorists and beginners alike through workshops titled “Fun with YUPO,” where his energetic teaching style helps artists find new confidence in abstract and representational painting.