PAINTING HOLIDAY IN ITALY
October 25 to November 1 2024 !
I'm very excited to be teaching another week long painting course in the beautiful Le Marche region of Italy.
We will stay at the beautiful Hotel Leone - 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 lunches and 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 your travel plans.
My aim is to encourage you to "look three times, think twice and draw once." I'd love for 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 and an introduction to your instructors and the materials we will be using. We will focus on our sketchbook the first day but there will be lots of time for studio work to create those amazing masterpieces. You can expect to paint a lot - quick studies to loosen up and get used to the feel of the paper, longer studies outside and plenty of time for demos and questions.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 and we will have a lovely little exhibition with the mayor and local villagers joining us to see our work.
Some experience with art 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.