Simplifying a Scene – How To Focus On What Matters Most
Friday, 6 September 2024
Painting Workshops & Retreats
2025
Upcoming Events:
SANTA FE, New Mexico
4-7 June 2025
“Expressive Color with a Limited Palette“
This four-day workshop will be studio based. Presented by Bluebird Studio, there is still space so sign up soon!
CORFU, Greece
5-12 October 2025
FULLY BOOKED! 🎉
But hey, you can join the waitlist because, you know, life happens…and you never know!!
Sooooo excited for this retreat.
COSTA RICA
4-13 December 2025
Art Retreat with Martine, the fab organizer of Rainforest Escape. Last time, it was pretty darn incredible!! The workshop still has space. AND there’s a special deal if you sign up before the end of June 2025!
2024
PAST Events:
TUSCANY Oct/Nov 2024
18 Oct – 5 Nov 2024
SOLD OUT
SOLD OUT
Rather than a regular plein air workshop where we do most of the pastel painting on site, I wanted to try something different. Instead, we’ll make sketches and thumbnails and take those back to the villa. Then along with the photos we’ve taken, we’ll use this reference material to build a painting in the studio.
Past Events:
ICAN
30th, May 2023
The workshops will include a variety of breathtaking locations chosen to inspire your creative work. Subjects will include architecture, perspective, landscape, and most articularly texture, tone, and colour, working with the clarity of light that is so much a part of Tuscany’s natural beauty.
Cornwall Festival
20th, August 2023
Gail balances her art practice with creating content for her well-respected blog ‘HowToPastel’ and her online art membership IGNITE! She loves to travel and combines that with her love of teaching, offering workshops worldwide. Her pastels and accompanying instruction are featured in the book ‘Artist’s Drawing Techniques.’
2022
Pastel Live Online
August 18th-20th, 2022
The workshops will include a variety of breathtaking locations chosen to inspire your creative work. Subjects will include architecture, perspective, landscape, and most articularly texture, tone, and colour, working with the clarity of light that is so much a part of Tuscany’s natural beauty.
TUSCANY JUNE 2019
June 18th-20th, 2022
During this 10-day workshop, our focus will be working from life. Much of our time together will be spent painting outdoors on location but since we are lucky enough to have a studio on site, we’ll also spend some time there too.
We’ll go through the process of creating a painting en plein air step-by-step, from choosing what you’re going to paint, to simplifying the scene, to drawing up a thumbnail (a getting-to-know-you tool which also shapes a value pattern for your painting as well as a good composition), to blocking in the big shapes as an
2022 IAPS Convention - Old Town Albuquerque, New Mexico
June 18th-20th, 2022
Gail balances her art practice with creating content for her well-respected blog ‘HowToPastel’ and her online art membership IGNITE! She loves to travel and combines that with her love of teaching, offering workshops worldwide. Her pastels and accompanying instruction are featured in the book ‘Artist’s Drawing Techniques.’
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Since you're here,
why not check out the blog!
Favorite Tutorials
How I Decide What To Paint
Friday, 26 July 2024
How To Make Changes in Pastel – My Approach
Friday, 5 July 2024
How To Choose Different Value Options For Thumbnails
Friday, 31 May 2024
That Nostalgic Feeling – The One Pump In Winnaleah, Tasmania
Friday, 3 May 2024
From Thumbnail To Underpainting
Friday, 9 February 2024
Creating Thumbnails En Plein Air (My Mexico Paintings)
Friday, 19 January 2024
Latest Edition
It’s the Doing That Matters – Plein Air Painting With Mum
Friday, 4 July 2025
I hadn’t been plein air painting in a while, but a spontaneous afternoon with my Mum reminded me why I love it. This post isn’t about masterpieces—it’s about showing up, painting what’s in front of you (even if it’s bins!), and rediscovering the joy of simply doing.
Recent Guest Artists
IAPS 2024: Eight Exclusive Artist Interviews!
Friday, 12 July 2024
Join me as I chat with eight incredible pastel artists at the IAPS 2024 Convention.
Mark Ivan Cole – Deep Observation and Emotional Realism
Friday, 23 August 2024
Join guest Mark Ivan Cole as he shares his wisdom and his works of forest, mountains, rocks, and water.
Colette Odya Smith On How To Grow As An Artist
Friday, 23 May 2025
Colette Odya Smith shares honest, inspiring lessons from her own art journey—full of growth, reinvention, and being your own teacher.
Susan Kuznitsky On Simplifying Complex Subjects
Friday, 20 June 2025
Guest Susan Kuznitsky shares how she approaches complex subjects in pastel—from crowded café interiors to a crowd of grandchildren (yes, really!). Through years of experience, she’s learned how to simplify without sacrificing richness, and how to suggest detail without overworking it. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by too much going on in a scene, this is the read that’ll help!
Susan Ellis – The Art of Clamming
Friday, 18 October 2024
Artist Susan Ellis paints the clammers of coastal Massachusetts. She shares her process and her love of painting these figures working in the mud.
Marie Tippets – No Hidden Meanings, Just Magic
Friday, 22 November 2024
Marie Tippets explores the beauty of still life art, revealing how simplicity and clear storytelling can transform ordinary subjects into captivating masterpieces.
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Gail Sibley
Artist. Blogger. Teacher.
My love of pastel and the enjoyment I receive from teaching about pastel inspired the creation of this blog. It has tips, reviews, some opinions:), and all manner of information regarding their use through the years – old and new. Please enjoy!
