Florence, May 9-12th

Registration

You can quickly and easily secure your spot via credit card or paypal here on the website. This is the easiest way for me to take sign ups. Please double check the spelling of your email at checkout, as it will be how I will be in touch ahead of the workshop.

However, if you would like to register with a 50% deposit rather than the full tuition, please get in touch via email.

Dates:

This is a 4 day workshop: May 9-12, Friday to Monday.

Location:

We will be painting in several central locations across Florence, Italy. Exact locations and order will be decided and shared before the workshop starts. Potential locations include Piazza Santissima Annunziata, Park Picolo Belvedere, Park Nicola Demidoff, the park along the Arno, under the bridge with the view of Ponte Vecchio, Piazza della Republica, and others.

Focus

This workshop will include a mixture of landscape and cityscape painting, but will lean more towards city scapes. We will cover the foundations of composition, drawing, value, and color throughout various subjects throughout Florence.

The workshop will start with an introduction to understanding how we really improve at painting, and the mental framework needed to push our paintings to the next level and continue growing as artists, even when we are on our own.

Throughout the workshop, we will focus on topics such as: 

Composition - ideas about balance, rhythm, variety, and masses. 

Drawing - Comparative measurement, sight size, finding alignments, and seeing shapes, whether positive or negative, animal, or puzzle piecing across out paintings.

Perspective - Understanding how to efficiently balance painting what you know versus what you see.

Color and Value - Finding several ways to observe the color and value of the subject in front of us. Breaking down color theory into simple, manageable decisions.

Plein air considerations - tactics for setting up and dealing with the changing light effect outside

Optics - after having an observational foundation, we are able to deepen our search by scientifically understanding the world around us, and studying the behavior of light with regard to diffraction, refraction, and scattering of the light. Atmospheric Perspective

Surface - hopefully by the end, we will have a solid footing to talk about some of the finer qualities of painting by embracing different textures, surfaces, and mark making.

When we are learning to paint, we are learning to see. My general process, whether in my larger art journey or within any individual painting, is to break away from our naive preconceptions of what we see to be able to objectively study what is in front of us, before we can finally feel and express what it is that we find beautiful. My goal is that this workshop will expand your ability of perception and deepen your understanding of the visual language and art of painting en plein air.

Supplies

Click here for a full breakdown of my supplies. I would like to stress that it is always important to have a secure set up that is wind resistant (hang your backpack) and a way to transport your wet paintings back home (wet panel carrier). Also, it greatly helps to also be relatively lightweight and be able to fit your kit in a backpack.

Daily Schedule

This workshop runs for four days.

Each morning starts with a demo from 9 – 12pm. These range from follow along demo’s - where I keep everyone in lock step and following my exact process to more traditional lecture or observational demos where I explain critical ideas and theories in plein air painting.

We break for lunch from 12-1pm.

From 1-4pm there is time for individual painting, where we break off and try our own hand at the lessons of the day. I circle around from each student, offering personal advice and suggestions.

After 4pm, I like to bring everyone for a final half hour to  go over the main lessons of the day.

I find in practice the most you can work on a plein air painting outdoors is 2-3 hours at a time before the light changes too much.

Class Size:

Class is limited to 12. After years of teaching, this is my ideal class size for workshops that guarantees everyone gets enough one on one feedback while having an engaging class.

Rain Plan:

Florence has several arcades in its major Piazzas that offer great cover in case of rain. In case of inclement weather, we will rearrange our schedule to paint under cover.

Accommodation and Travel:

Lodging is handled separately from workshop registration. If possible, I would recommend somewhere central to experience Florence as a walkable city. However, taxis in Florence are cheap, and there is a developed public transit system for anyone staying slightly further out. Please see the above locations to get an idea where it might be best to stay.

Florence has a small airport on the outskirts of the city. When I travel to Florence, I prefer a direct flight into Rome and take a train, rather than a layover. Other nearby airports such as Bologna or Pisa can be good options, as well.

Refund Policy:

There is a 72 hours no questions asked refund phase. Hopefully this allows some time to settle accommodation while securing a spot. Beyond that, any requests for a refund shall take into account how long there is left until the workshop, whether it was full at the time of cancellation, and whether I am able to fill the spot. 

I do my best to be understanding, but if you are unsure whether you will be able to attend, I would encourage you to hold off on signing up for the workshop or ask for a preemptive waitlist, rather than signing up just in case.

For any further questions, please contact here.