Watercolour Course in Tuscany

21.05.2022 - 28.05.2022 Tuscany | Keiko Tanabe painting, watercolor, watercolour, landscape 1995 GBP

Mostly self-taught, Keiko Tanabe embarked on a professional art career in 2005. Since then, her paintings have been in many national and international exhibitions, both juried and invitational, and gained world-wide recognitions. She has done her solo exhibitions in California, Turkey, Italy and Russia. Her work has been purchased by private and corporate collectors from all around the world. Additionally, she has produced nine art books. She also had her paintings published and featured in leading art magazines and several publications in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

A sought-after workshop instructor since 2011, she has conducted more than 180 workshops and numerous live demonstrations around the world. She has frequently served as a juror in art exhibitions. In 2015 she was named an official Ambassador for Winsor & Newton. In 2018, she was appointed to the advisory board of the American Watercolor Weekly. She is currently a member of National Watercolor Society (signature), American Watercolor Society, North American Watercolor Artists and American Impressionist Society. In 2018 and 2019, she was invited to be a faculty member for the Plein Air Convention & Expo, the world's largest plein-air painting event. Keiko was born in Kyoto, Japan and currently lives in San Diego, California.

Philosophy

"Watercolor painting is a language I have learned to speak to tell my stories of who we are and how we live. It is a creative tool to capture the simple truth in our everyday life that may be overlooked but tugs at my heartstrings. It is also a vehicle to communicate my artistic vision on the joy of living and the ingenuity of human creations. I travel near and far and paint with enthusiasm to celebrate the beauty we all share at this time on this planet."

"When I am true to my inspiration, my brushstrokes sometimes surprise me by exposing something of my inner spirit I was not even aware of."

"I used to lay down several layers in order to increase the intensity of values. But in doing that, I could lose freshness. Now I mix my darks first thing, and put in the accurate tonal value of the darks right away. My goal is to finish with fewer brushstrokes."

Details of Keiko's workshop

Keiko's workshop at the watermill is designed for students who would like to gain a better understanding of methods and techniques to make a watercolour painting that is full of light and atmosphere.

Keiko will start with the fundamentals and discuss: the importance of a good design (perspective), understanding of tonal values, a variety of techniques in paint application and brush handling, how to simplify a complex scene, etc.

You will paint different subject(s) every day, en plein-air weather permitting, and try different approaches to discover what is effective to create the kind of atmosphere you desire.

Keiko will do two demonstrations a day. There'll be one-on-one guidance and a question-and-answer session on a daily basis. A class critique will be conducted at the end of workshop. A course will include: emphasis on perspective, design, values, atmosphere, colour choices Subjects will be: Landscape, Waterscape, Cityscape, Interior (café, restaurant,) Plein-air, weather permitting. If the weather is bad you will work indoors.

The workshop is suitable for all levels, but a basic knowledge is strongly recommended.


The Watermill is a complex of elegant and historic Tuscan buildings, surrounding a sunny courtyard with an adjoining vine verandah, rose pergola and sun-filled walled garden. More gardens lead to walks along the river and the sun-dappled millstream. We are surrounded by two environmentally protected areas: the National Park of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and the Regional Park of the Apuan Alps. The air and the water are pure and unpolluted, and the area abounds in wildlife. It is all yours to explore.

We are increasingly environmentally aware and we have now incorporated an array of photovoltaic panels in our south-facing roof structures, to generate ‘green’ electricity. We have already produced some 30,000 kWh of electricity and saved more than 20 tonnes of CO2 emissions. We have installed air-conditioning units to cool/heat all our bedrooms and public rooms including the communal dining room, communal sitting-room and the studio, using the ‘green’ electricity generated by our photovoltaic panels.

As part of our war on plastic, we loan our guests individual stainless-steel vacuum flasks for the week, instead of using individual plastic water bottles. The vacuum flasks (which are sterilised at the end of each course) can be filled with filtered water from our new water-dispensing machine in the Communal Kitchen. You can have water at ambient temperature, chilled still water or chilled fizzy water! There is an ice-making machine too, if you like your water even colder (and for your evening cocktails and gins and tonics!)

We have tried to be environmentally conscious in our restoration building projects, too, seeking where possible to incorporate modern energy-saving details, from insulated roofs to double-glazed windows.


Deposit and balance

A deposit of £250 per person is required to confirm your booking.

The balance for your holiday is due eight weeks before arrival.

Please note our cancellation conditions set out below. (We recommend that you take out normal holiday insurance, including cancellation insurance.)

How to make your payment

We ask you to make your payment by direct bank transfer and we will give you our bank details for you to make this transaction.

If you are paying from outside the UK you might like to use Transferwise. In our regular transactions within Europe, to the USA and Australia, this company has transferred our money efficiently and speedily, and we have enjoyed excellent exchange rates and paid very low fees. Our guests say: ““Wow! What a great way to send money inexpensively.” “I'm amazed and impressed with how speedy it all happened.” “Totally impressed!” Just ask us for the link.

If you prefer to pay by credit card via PayPal, we can send you an invoice, with a link for you to make a secure payment. You will find, however, that your exchange rate is less favourable (you will spend more in your own currency for the same amount in GBP) and, in addition, we charge an extra 3.5% on your payment as a contribution to the card transaction fees incurred at our end.

Cancellations

The deposit is non-returnable, unless you cancel within 14 days of the booking.

If the course has to be postponed because of official restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, the deposit may be transferred to a course with the same tutor at a later date, or to another tutor of your choice.

If you have to cancel four to eight weeks before departure, a charge of 40% of the total price is payable; at two to four weeks, 60%; at one to two weeks, 80%; at less than one week, 90%. Once the course has started, 100% is payable.

We reserve the right to cancel any course at two months' notice and, where possible, provide you with an alternative.

Getting there

The best airport to arrive at is Pisa, which has many daily flights to and from international destinations. You might also care to fly into Florence and spend a few days there. There is a regular train service from Florence Santa Maria Novella station to Pisa Centrale, where there is a shuttle train which takes only a few minutes to arrive at Pisa Aeroporto, where we pick our guests up on the morning of the first Saturday of their holiday week.

We recommend that you do not book your flights until we have told you that sufficient numbers have enrolled on a course to make it viable, and that it will definitely run. We will let you know this at the earliest opportunity, (many months before the start of the course) to help you get the best deals on flights online or through your local travel agent. When booking your flights, please note our complimentary pick-up and drop-off times below. And don't forget to take out travel insurance.

We pick you up at Pisa airport on the first day between 10 am and 1 pm. Our departure times from Posara on the last Saturday are after breakfast, usually between 8.30 am and 9.30 am. (It takes between an hour-and-a-quarter and an hour-and-a-half to get to Pisa airport.) If you arrive or leave outside these times we can arrange transportation for you but you will have to pay for it.

You may decide to come by car. You can park at the mill and we'll give you full instructions on how to get here.

Watercolour Course in Tuscany
Keiko Tanabe