Daniela Astone and I just finished our back-to-back plein air courses in Chianti and the gulf of Baratti. We had 19 glorious days of sunshine during the two ten-day sessions. Here are a few of the sketches I managed to bat out during my time off from teaching.
Baratti Dawn. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
My painting of the Marsiliana from eleven years ago. 100 x 70 cm
After the success of our Trevi plein air workshop, Daniela Astone and I have decided to do a second course in Maremma (near the coast in southwestern Tuscany). As with Trevi the area is one of the more picturesque in Italy and one of my favorite places to paint. We will stay in the Marsiliana, a stunning castle/hamlet perched on a hill and near enough to the coast for day trips to the beach. It’s an area where I have already scouted extensively over the years, and I had a painting breakthrough of my own there 11 years ago so the place has a sentimental value to me.
Update: The course is now full, but Daniela and I will do more next year.
Today is the last day of the ten day plein air course around Trevi, Umbria. One of my favorite landscape painting spots in the whole world. We had great weather after the first couple of days and I was helped immensely by the multi-talented Daniela Astone who assisted me in teaching.
White roads and hay bales.
Poppy fields below Trevi.
This is the first time I’ve done an extended intensive workshop and it was interesting to see how much the students improve after ten days of straight painting. We were also lucky that two professional painters, Charlie Church and Takuma Kaneko joined us. So often the best teaching is a good example.
Takuma finishing off the day from the parking lot of the hotel.
Charlie helping Denise with her painting.
Ben Fenske also did an excellent demonstration one afternoon on aerial (atmospheric) perspective and planes.
Ben giving a demonstration below Trevi.
We stayed at a charming little agriturismo, Le Vedute, on the hill outside Trevi, where Pietro and Marta looked after us splendidly.
Here are a few more action shots from the trip:
Daniela painting ducks on a river bank.
Maike at the end of a long day.
Bob painting in the shade in the valley.
Luigi painting at the Clitunno Springs.
Overall the course was a a great success and we got good feedback from everyone. Daniela will scout around Maremma for a location for our next workshop together and hopefully we can set something up for September.
View of Trevi from the Bed and Breakfast.
I’ve posted the dates and location for the first of two plein air workshops I hope to do this June. The area around the town of Trevi in Southern Umbria really amazed me for it’s picturesqueness when I was in Spoleto a few years back. I’ve been back a couple of times since then to scout the place out and I feel it has incredible potential for a plein air painting location.
The town is also quite beautiful and without much traffic, if the group is interested in cityscapes.
Picture taken in the center of Trevi this September.
For more information, head over to the courses page.
