Find a shady spot!

Our enthusiastic and inspiring tutor Terry Jarvis is a great fan of painting en plein air or, as he would put it in his no-nonsense Australian, the great outdoors. But when faced with a hundred things you could paint, how do you choose?

First of all, think of yourself and the paper you’ll be working on! Terry says: “Always try and find a spot to paint from where you can be comfortable but have constant shade on your painting. There’s nothing worse than dappled light or bright sunlight while you are trying to construct a great image.”

With a great scene to paint

Don’t forget that as well as recording a scene, your picture should also tell a story, capturing the emotion you feel and relaying it to the viewer. And the best scene may not be in front of your nose! Terry says: “Look behind you as well as in front and to the sides, there could be just the scene you are looking for!” Also, look for where the light is coming from and decide whether painting into the light or back-lighting or side-lighting is best for portraying the story you want to tell.

A few other practical considerations when homing-in on your subject:

• Don’t shut the viewer out! Terry says: “You’ve got to allow people visually to ‘walk in and through’ your painting. So, never put a fence or a gate or some other obstacle in front to block them.”
• Leave out those unnecessary things that might challenge the atmosphere and the mood you are looking for. Ask yourself “What do I need to change in the image before me, like take out a lamp post or add a lamp post.”

• Strong verticals in your painting (such as a tree, a lamp post, a mast on a boat) will bind together a lot of horizontal lines.

• Simpler and larger shapes help add impact.

• Strong contrasting tonal differences with sharper edged areas will give strength to a painting.

Terry says: “The most wonderful painting opportunities are in the great outdoors, out there just waiting for you!”

Let the viewer walk into the picture

Terry will be with us again this year at The Watermill, so come and enjoy the fresh air of rural Tuscany with him and capture it with your brush.

Terry Jarvis is one of Australia’s leading watercolour artists. The son of a goldminer, he was inspired at an early age to draw and paint the landscape, as well as people and animals. Terry also works in oils, pastels and acrylics and is happy to teach in those mediums too. He loves drawing and helping his students to develop their drawing skills.

Here’s what one guest on Terry’s Watermill course this year had to say: “I wanted to thank you for a most wonderful stay at The Watermill.  Your treatment of us was terrific.  Six stars doesn’t come close!  I enjoyed every minute. Terry’s course was great.  He is an excellent teacher – very encouraging and knows how to bring out the best in his students.  He has a great personality.”

Another said: “Terry Jarvis was superb with people, very positive and very relaxed. I’ve been on painting holidays before and learned nothing but Terry was great. When you got stuck he’d come along with a smile – and a brush – and bring your picture to life. He wasn’t afraid to criticise your work, but he had a really positive attitude, which helped you to improve.”

7-14 July 2018 

Terry Jarvis

Watercolours (and oils, pastels and acrylics)

To learn more about Terry and his course at The Watermill, please click here.

Come and join us and enjoy a six-star, sun-filled, fun-filled, inspiring week!

As you may have guessed from past blogs, I love those speeded-up videos where our tutors demonstrate their inspiring techniques in a twinkling or two of an eye.

But here’s something very different from Watermill watercolour tutor Sandra Strohschein, who is our ‘artist in residence’ for four weeks in early Summer next year.  It’s a video showing how to paint a mountain landscape. Sandra says: “I am demonstrating in real time how I paint directly, essentially in one go. The hand movements are not sped up. This is actual painting.”

As well as being inspiring, you’ll find the video very soothing, so I suggest you grab yourself a cup of tea or coffee and sit back and enjoy watching Sandra at work by clicking here. (Sandra points out, by the way: “I do not own the rights to the background music nor am I profiting from this video.”)

We’ve never had a ‘painter in residence’ at the Watermill before, but for most of June next year we are going to be doing just that. Our delightful watercolour* tutor Sandra Strohschein will be with us for four sun-filled, inspiring painting weeks, from May 26 to June 23. They promise to be the greatest fun – and the first two weeks are completely booked up already.

*Sandra will teach in watercolour, but she says: “Students may choose to paint in acrylic or pastel as well as, or instead of, watercolour. I can instruct on how to put together a painting as far as composition, light, values etc… I cannot handle oil as I am allergic but pencil, acrylic, pastel…perfectly fine.”

The warm and sunlit Watermill courtyard

As I said, the weeks May 26 to June 2 and June 2 to June 9 are fully booked (you can join a waiting list if these are the only dates you can make.) We already have six guests booked in for the week June 9 to June 16 (and a couple more in the pipeline), and three for the week June 16 to June 23, so now if the time to book on these amazing courses.

The square in nearby Fivizzano on market day

Sandra Strohschein from Michigan, USA, has achieved an extraordinary mastery of her medium, transparent watercolours. She works in a fast loose impressionistic style, but above all, she produces passionate, emotionally charged paintings, full of energy.

As for her teaching, people frequently tell her about how much fun they have on her workshops and how nobody ever wants them to end. Another painting guest on her course at the mill said: “Watching your demonstrations was such an education and your kind and patient individual help was invaluable.”  

Everything is included in the cost of your holiday at the watermill: tuition, accommodation (including all linen and towels), pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals and wines (including outings to charming local restaurants) and all local transportation (including transfers to Pisa airport and an excursion by train to Lucca or the Cinque Terre). You get to Pisa, Italy, we do the rest!

 Sandra Strohshein

Watercolours

26 May to 2 June, 2-9 June, 9-16 June AND 16-23 June 2018

Please click here to learn more about Sandra’s painting holidays at The Watermill.

Painting in the heart of rural Tuscany

Our thanks to the website of the prestigious news magazine, The Week, for including the Watermill in an article on five of the best art holidays around the world. You can see it at http://www.theweek.co.uk/90602/five-of-the-best-art-holidays-

And you can find out how to join one of our sun-filled, fun-filled, inspiring painting weeks by clicking here.  If you book before the end of the year, you can enjoy our generous Early Bird booking discount, too.

The magazine, which provides a digest of the week’s important new stories, says: “Broaden your horizons with a stay at The Watermill at Posara, Tuscany, where painting sessions can be supplemented with courses in self-development, creative writing, Italian, knitting and yoga. Next year’s featured artists include Paul Talbot-Greaves (watercolours and acrylics, 28 April to 5 May), whose work is reproduced above, Andrew Geeson (watercolours 23 to 30 June), Claire Warner (watercolours, oils and acrylics, 15 to 22 September) and Vicki Norman (oils, 6 to 13 October). “Alongside workshops and masterclasses there are excursions to the nearby villages of the Cinque Terre and the town of Fivizzano on market day,” says The Times. The Watermill’s Italian cooking offers another reason to pack your bags: sample menus include creamy risotto al pesto, oven-baked fish between chestnut leaves and Amaretto mousse ice cream.”

From £1,560pp (two sharing) for seven nights including tuition, meals, drinks and transfers to/from Pisa. Flights extra. Contact The Watermill at Posara

Find out what all the fuss is about!

Sandra beside the rose pergola in the Watermill walled garden. Come and join our early Summer ‘artist in residence.’

We’ve never had a ‘painter in residence’ at the Watermill before, but for most of June next year we are going to be doing just that. Our delightful watercolour* tutor Sandra Strohschein will be with us for four sun-filled, inspiring painting weeks, from May 26 to June 23. They promise to be the greatest fun – and the first two weeks are completely booked up already.

Sandra says: “ The Watermill is one of my favourite place to paint and the hospitality is out of this world.I  love the idea of being there for four weeks.“

She adds: “I usually travel to Europe every year for a couple of months and I am looking forward to spending more time with you in Italy next year. What fun! I’ve made so many great friends over the years at the Watermill and I am looking forward to meeting many of them again as well as making new friends during our painting weeks. I enjoy painting at home or abroad with friends: it is all wonderful.”

A painting of the Watermill from the riverside by Sandra

*Sandra will teach in watercolour, but she says: “Students may choose to paint in acrylic or pastel as well as, or instead of, watercolour. I can instruct on how to put together a painting as far as composition, light, values etc… I cannot handle oil as I am allergic but pencil, acrylic, pastel…perfectly fine.”

The square in nearby Fivizzano on market day

As I said, the weeks May 26 to June 2 and June 2 to June 9 are fully booked (you can join a waiting list if these are the only dates you can make.) We already have six guests booked in for the week June 9 to June 16 (and a couple more in the pipeline), and three for the week June 16 to June 23, so now if the time to book on these amazing courses. And don’t forget our Early Bird discount booking offer. More details on everything are below.

We had a wonderful course with Sandra earlier this year and our guests thoroughly enjoyed themselves. A couple of their comments: “Sandra was full of enthusiasm and talent and made every day a joy.  To have two chances most days to paint was utter heaven and in such wonderful surroundings. I didn’t paint a masterpiece but thoroughly enjoyed my week.  I hope to remember some of the tricks Sandy taught us and use them in the future.”

 “Many thanks to you both for a fabulous week. Your forethought, hard work and professionalism are very much appreciated. Nothing was too much trouble and nothing was at fault. You have created a gem. Please pass on our sincere gratitude to all your lovely people.”

Sandra Strohschein from Michigan, USA, has achieved an extraordinary mastery of her medium, transparent watercolours. She works in a fast loose impressionistic style, but above all, she produces passionate, emotionally charged paintings, full of energy.

As for her teaching, people frequently tell her about how much fun they have on her workshops and how nobody ever wants them to end. Another painting guest on her course at the mill said: “Watching your demonstrations was such an education and your kind and patient individual help was invaluable.”  

Everything is included in the cost of your holiday at the watermill: tuition, accommodation (including all linen and towels), pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals and wines (including outings to charming local restaurants) and all local transportation (including transfers to Pisa airport and an excursion by train to Lucca or the Cinque Terre). You get to Pisa, Italy, we do the rest!

 Sandra Strohshein

Watercolours

26 May to 2 June, 2-9 June, 9-16 June AND 16-23 June 2018

Please click here to learn more about Sandra’s painting holidays at The Watermill. 

 Early Bird discount: book now!

 If you book before 31 December 2017 there’s a £GBP 75 per person discount on this fabulous 2018 painting holiday.  To enquire about availability and/or to reserve your place, please use our secure Booking Enquiry Form by clicking here.

Come and join us and savour the magic of The Watermill!

Our inspiring new watercolour tutor Andrew Geeson is renowned for his fast and loose painting style and we are looking forward to watching him work around the Watermill and in our lovely Tuscan countryside when he visits us next June. In the meantime, to whet your appetite, we’d thought we’d share a few of his watercolours with you.

Andrew will be with us from Saturday 23 to Saturday 30 June 2018. There’s a link to more details about his course here below. And don’t forget our special Early Bird booking discount of £75. It expires soon. More below, too.

Andrew Geeson, from Leicester in the UK, has been a professional watercolourist for more than 20 years. He has taught hundreds of students on holidays and in workshops and, increasingly, on-line were he enjoys a large following. He says: “I love the simplicity and joy of watercolours and my passion and aim is inspire and encourage students to paint in a loose a free manner. The joy it brings is unmatched and everyone should try it. I am keen to share my excitement with others.”  As one of his students says: “Superb work. Beautiful loose style, this is how watercolours should be!”

Andrew specialises in a wet-into-wet style of watercolours: “This quick, fun and rewarding approach to watercolour painting allows you to capture your subject, whatever it may be, in the most atmospheric way without the constraints of over detailing.  Being spontaneous, immediate and atmospheric, it allows you to express more than the subject of the painting Come along and give it a try.  I think you may find a new world of painting.”

Everything is included in the cost of your holiday at the watermill: tuition, accommodation (including all linen and towels), pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals and wines (including outings to charming local restaurants) and all local transportation (including transfers to Pisa airport and an excursion by train to Lucca or the Cinque Terre). You get to Pisa, Italy, we do the rest!

Early Bird discount

*** If you book before 31 December 2017 there’s a £GBP 75 per person (about $100) discount on this fabulous 2018 painting holiday.  To enquire about availability and/or to reserve your place, please click here.

23-30 June 2018 

Andrew Geeson

Watercolours

To learn more about Andrew and his course at The Watermill, please click here.