PAINTING HOLIDAYS 2009
We will be offering two types of course
in 2009:
• 5 day courses for small groups
(4-6 painters), running Monday to Friday.
• 3 – 5 day ‘à
la carte’ courses for couples or individuals where
you choose the dates and the course content that
interest you.
5 DAY PAINTING HOLIDAYS
These courses are suitable for all levels. Some flexibility
of content is possible, to accommodate individual needs
and interests – and to take account of the weather!-
but the following timetable has been found to work well:
Sunday: Arrive afternoon or early evening.
Tour the garden and choose some art books and DVDs from
the library and take them to your room for inspiration.
Enjoy an aperitif in the garden (weather permitting) and
a sumptuous 4- course evening meal with wines and a glass
of Baileys or Calvados to finish.
Monday: Tutor Demonstration: different
strategies for composing a picture; we compare different
ways of tackling the wonderful stone barns, houses and churches
that fill the Normandy landscape. Choose your subject from
among the many barns and houses nearby.
Tuesday: Tutor Demonstration:
sketching figures on the move and painting crowd scenes.
Visit colourful local market at Villedieu and sketch the
passers-by while sitting in our favourite cafe. Quick visit
to a couple of local art galleries and lunch in a nearby
brasserie.
p.m. Choose your subject from among the many sculptures
and vistas in the gardens.
Wednesday: Tutor Demonstration:
painting the bocage. How to use atmospheric perspective
to paint the rolling hills, the patchwork of small fields
and hedgerows studded with oak and ash that give this region
of Normandy an appearance that has, alas, all but vanished
from much of the UK. Find your subject in the view from
the gardens, or in the nearby valleys.
'Dave and Pat painting in the Gorges of the Vire.' Original
watercolour by Brian Ashbee, 2008.
Thursday Tutor Demonstration:
painting water and cloud effects in watercolour.
Visit the Gorges of the River Vire for a full day’s
painting of river scenes. Packed lunch provided for riverside
picnic or lunch at local brasserie.
Friday: Tutor Demonstration:
How to enhance your best pictures using an image editing
programme such as Photoshop and turn them into prints. (A
series of articles on this topic has been commissioned from
me by Leisure Painter magazine and will appear from January.)
We make prints from your favourite pieces produced during
the week.
Nb Artists of limited mobility will have transport provided
to painting sites close to car parking.
In the event of bad weather, alternative interior locations
will be provided.
Saturday: Departure after breakfast.
COURSE DATES 2009
Arrive Sunday 12 th April ....................................Depart
Saturday 18 April
Arrive Sunday 3rd May........................................Depart
Saturday May 9th
Arrive Sunday June 14th......................................Depart
Saturday June 20th
Arrive Sunday July 5th ........................................Depart
Saturday July 11th
Arrive Sunday August 2nd....................................Depart
Saturday August 8th
FEES FOR 2009.....
10 % DISCOUNT
WILL APPLY TO THE PRICES BELOW IF COURSE BOOKED BEFORE 31st
DECEMBER 2008
Inclusive course fee per person for six nights accommodation
and evening meals and five days tuition and lunches (excluding
brasserie drinks Tuesday and Thursday.) Prices based on
two people sharing room.
White Room: ………………………………………660
euros
Luxury Red Room ……………………...................
792 euros
Single person supplement in White Room…….
.........132 euros
'Pond at Morigny'. Original watercolour by Brian Ashbee,
2008.
PAINTING À LA CARTE
Choose 3, 4 or 5 days of tuition when it suits you. Single
artists or couples welcome. Choose from the following options:
1. Typical Normandy landscapes (1) - atmospheric perspective
in the bocage: rolling hills and a patchwork of small fields,
with hedgerows studded with oak and ash give this region
of Normandy an a pearance that has, alas, all but vanished
from much of the UK.
2. Typical Normandy landscapes (2) - local barns and houses
offer charmingly dilapidated structures with beautiful weathered
stone walls. Churches too dominate the landscape with their
exquisitely contoured spires and towers.
3. City visit: Caen offers an amazing number of superb
abbeys, sculptures and a castle, as well as museums where
we have permission to sketch. Not to mention lots of cafes,
alleyways and geranium-filled terraces and balconies. Markets
Friday and Sunday.
4. The Gardens 1 Portraits in Stone: sculpted figures and
busts at Arts in the Garden offer a charming challenge.
5. The Gardens 2. Painting foliage - one of the most difficult
aspects of landscape painting, whatever the medium! As well
as many charming vistas, we have an extensive collection
of Japanese Maples, offering a fascinating range of colours
and shapes.
6. Normandy Interiors (1): visit to a metalworking workshop
set in an old barn, offering a wonder collection of strange
and complex machines to draw and paint.
7. Normandy Interiors (2) : an old barn with a wonderful
spiral staircase
9. Understanding Composition: many painting fail through
lack of basic composition: i.e. how to choose and frame
a subject to make a successful painting.
10. Understanding Tone: how to identify and simplify tonal
values, and give your work structural coherence.
11. Understanding Colour: Too many GREENS can damage your
health! Landscapes do of course often contain a lot of greens...but
this doesn't mean necessarily that your paintings have to!
12. Watercolour: brush painting techniques that will give
more spontaneity and panache to your work
13. Watercolour washes and wet and dry techniques: painting
water and clouds
14.. Flower painting: watercolour, acrylic or oil
15. Sketching people: a visit to the local markets in Villedieu
offers plenty of lively scenes for your pencil or pen.
16. Using a computer to make prints and collages from your
original work. (This will be the topic of a series of articles
commissioned from me by Leisure Painter magazine for their
January 2009 issue.)
À LA
CARTE COURSE FEES 2009
Inclusive of evening meal on night of arrival, and full
board and tuition during the course, and breakfast on day
of departure.
10 % DISCOUNT
WILL APPLY TO THE PRICES BELOW IF COURSE BOOKED BEFORE 31st
DECEMBER 2008
Accommodation………………3
day course……………………4
day course.........................5 day course
White Room.................................... €450..............................................
€583..................................... €715
Luxury Red Room…………………524€...............................................€682......................................€836
Prices assume two people sharing room.
Single person supplement per day……………White
Room..............€25
.......................................................................Red
Room................€35
GUEST COMMENTS FROM OUR FIRST YEAR
OF OPERATION.
We have met a number of interesting artists during our
first year - and made many new friends. Here are some of
their comments. You can see their comments in full by clicking
on the links.
