Lausanne, Switzerland

Ksenia Astakhova

Ksenia Astakhova is a Russian watercolorist based in Switzerland. Her inspiration stems from traveling and discovering new places, resulting in the creation of a new series of paintings. The main subjects for Ksenia are water, boats and nature. Most of the time, she paints "en plein air", capturing only what she has seen firsthand. Ksenia received a classical high art education in Moscow State Academy of Arts as well as completed several internships in Chelsea College of Arts, London and in Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, Milano. Now she is focused on painting and works full time as a director and a head teacher at Artiloft art school, Lausanne. As of 2018, she is a member of the International Watercolour Society (IWS) in Switzerland and since 2019 - a member of Association Romande for the Valorisation of the Arts (ARVA). In November 2019 she opened the art school "Artiloft" in Lausanne, Switzerland. Ksenia’s paintings are located in private collections in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, Austria, China, Russia, Turkey, Indonesia, Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland.

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Workshop Language: English, French, Russian



Panoramic urban landscape of Neuchâtel in watercolors and dry pastels

During the workshop, we will study a technique of representing a panoramic cityscape in watercolor and each participant will leave with a finished artwork regardless of the level of preparation. We will talk about the perspective (linear and aerial), we’ll learn the values, composition, shades and shadows as well as finding the focal point and creating a blurry effect for the rest. We’ll learn to simplify the details and connect the washes to create a harmonic piece of art.


Key skills:
  • Creating the aerial perspective
  • Finding the focal point of the artwork
  • Depicting the contrasts and the volumes
  • Simplifying the details

Suggested material:
  • Watercolor paints or watersoluble pencils
  • Watercolor brushes, water tank, napkins
  • Dry pastels (optionally)
  • Sketchbooks or paperblocks with watercolor paper, fine grain, preferably 100% cotton. Any size from A5 to A3 is suitable.