Painting Holiday in Italy

I'm super excited to be teaching a week long painting course in beautiful Italy!

We will stay at Hotel Leone Le Marche - a boutique luxury hotel in Montelparo for 7 nights. For five days we will get to paint in the surrounding countryside - rolling hills, medieval villages and stunning views from the hotel will be just some of our subject matter. The owners of the hotel will take us to places they have already scoped out so we won't waste time finding the best places to set up. All meals are  included - breakfast, lunch and dinner, we'll even get to share wine with our evening meals. We will also have one day when we can take a painting break and enjoy a fun excursion - perhaps truffle hunting or wine tasting, we can decide this as a group. Transfers to and from the airport are also included and Madeline can help you with knowing which airport to fly to.

I plan to fly to the UK first for a few days visiting my family and loosening up those brushes, if you would like to join me in the UK please let me know and we can make some arrangements to travel together.

My plan is to encourage to look three times, think twice and draw once. I really want to encourage you to take the time to soak up the scene before you and take in the sights and sounds. As you do so you will find yourself naturally contemplating how to achieve colours and shapes and your work will become less focused on capturing a realistic interpretation of the landscape and more about capturing the feel of the moment. I'm planning this course on yupo paper - a smooth, bright white, tree-free paper and my preferred way of painting watercolours. Yupo is so fun you will find you can’t help but get loose and free with your colours and your painting technique - you will literally “go with the flow” and your paintings will reflect that loose, spontaneous and intuitive approach. Participants will be strongly encouraged to try their hand with the yupo and I'll bring extra paper for those who may not be able to source it in their locale. You are also free to use traditional cotton rag paper for your watercolours if you prefer a more controlled outcome.

The week will begin with a chat about how to handle yupo and then some quick studies to loosen up and get used to the feel of the paper. Outside work will consist of demos and one on one help with composition and technique. If needed we will continue in the on site studio. We’ll start each day with a short critique and check in on how people found the previous day. I'll answer any questions that arise and demo specific techniques. During the week we will also make time for a session on the reductive technique - a unique approach to yupo that sees you removing the paint and creating shapes in a new and exciting way. At the end of the week I'll show you how to finish your work so that you don’t need to frame under glass. Some experience with watercolour is preferred but not essential as I can tailor my approach to individual needs.

For more information on the hotel or to book your spot contact Madeline at Hotel Leone. For questions about what to expect in the painting course you can contact me. 

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