Taking time to sketch, savour, and immerse. That’s what my recent 8-day art retreat in Tuscany was all about. Away from the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, we embraced the Tuscan way of living—pausing to soak in the landscape, the food, and the art of truly being present. And by taking time, we also discovered a new way to paint. This was my new workshop!

So what was the workshop about? 

Rather than painting en plein air in pastels, the focus was on capturing scenes in sketches, thumbnails, and quick colour notes and then going back to the studio to work from these rather than just using our photos as reference material.

I don’t know about you but I usually arrive home from a trip with a TON of photos on my phone. Many are taken because of something – beautiful or otherwise – that catches my eye. And so many of my snapshots are taken as future painting material. And yet. UGH. I often look at them at home and think, Why did I think that was worthy of painting?? The photos are often dull, washed out, or heavily contrasted extremes of dark and light with very little colour glow. 

Soooo instead of coming home with only these disappointing photos, the idea was to build up an inventory of quickly caught sketches that capture our emotional response to what’s in front of us. Yes this takes time. Yes this takes effort. But less time than sitting and painting a whole painting. Instead, the task was to capture as many views as possible that could then be used to paint from back in the studio, either while in Tuscany or back home!

Here’s the example I showed them. Rather than painting from the blah and uninteresting photo (actually, I would have instantly discarded it as a painting reference!), I used my thumbnail and quick watercolour sketch as guides to paint from.

And, oh my, the work students did using this method was fabulous!! All agreed that the paintings they made from their sketches were more interesting and colourful and alive than what would have been the result of merely working from a snapshot on their phone.

Let me take you through our Tuscany adventure. Taking time wasn’t just about the Tuscan pace of life—it shaped how we approached our art.

Our first day brought a foggy, beautiful morning. Students spread out and started their sketching.

We then had a show and tell of sketches from around the Villa Nobile property

The next day we were out sketching again, this time at an oh-so-paintable ruin in Magione.

We then headed back to the studio to start working from these and yesterday’s sketches.

The following day, we headed for the street markets in Camucia. Time was spent soaking in the smells, sounds, tastes, and sights, and of course, sketching! We were then rewarded with lunch in the hilltop town of Cortona.

Back at the Villa, we had a show and tell of sketches.

The next morning was all about colour exercises in the studio and then we headed off to the town of Arezzo. Everyone spread out and found interesting nooks and crannies to make their sketches in this city full of painting opportunities.

Selecting one of the sketches/thumbnails from the previous day, students spent the next day playing with colour studies and then creating a painting inspired by the studies and sketches. This was the day I did a demo on how I build a painting. (You can see it at the end of this post.)

The next morning we headed to the small hilltop village of Monticchiello and happily sketched there before having a delicious lunch and then heading to Montepulciano for a full blown session of wine tasting. Oh joy!!

Then came our last day and we spent it in the studio, building more paintings from sketches.

And finally, a showing of favourite pieces from the workshop. What a marvellous retreat this was, to see all the work created from sketches!! Taking time in Tuscany certainly paid off!

And here’s my own Tuscan example, developed from one of the sketches I made in Camucia. I was drawn to the interesting shapes cast by the street lamps on the awning over a doorway. I made a quick thumbnail and then jumped into a watercolour sketch. Those shadows moved quickly! (That dang sun never stops!) 

Back in the Villa Nobile studio, I chose some base colours and then built the piece, using my thumbnail and watercolour sketch as guides. Here’s the demo as I left it. (I aim to tweak it a bit in the coming month.)

The colours of the scene were more evident in the watercolour than the reference photo. And this is the point, to capture what you see, on site, rather than depending solely on your photos as reference material. 

Thanks to my wonderful students – Sybil, Christine, John, Alexandra, Lyn, Bonnie, Barbara, Pat, and Cindy – for permitting me share their work in this blog post. Thanks too to our fabulous host Raffaele Nobile for helping to make our time together so memorable.

Taking time to sketch on location could change the way you approach your art. Have you tried it? Or does this inspire you to give it a go? Let me know by leaving a comment!

Until next time,

~ Gail