In a wonderful piece of synchronous serendipity (lucky timing to you and me), Lois and I will have just returned from the beautiful small Italian spa village of Bagno Vignoni, the subject of Randy Hale’s next online, interactive painting session, which takes place on Thursday 2 February. The day before Lois and Bill will be enjoying the hot springs and Lois will undoubtedly be telling you all about it when she hosts the Zoom session.
Please note that the start time of the session on 2 February is 4pm UK time (GMT) which equates to 11.00am – East Coast USA; 10.00am – Central Time USA; 9.00am – Mountain Time USA; 8.00am – Pacific Coast Time USA.
Active since Etruscan and Roman times, the village square itself is full of the thermal waters in a large 16th century reservoir, the subject of our source photograph above. And below is Randy’s practice painting of the watery square.
Randy says: “How fun to combine Italian building facades and dark reflective water with steamy mist wafting across the surface! In this ZOOM session we’ll take a look at the southern Tuscany resort town of Bagno Vignoni. While most Italian towns are built around a central square, this community sprang up as a result of the natural hot springs drawing visitors there for centuries. The central spa basin serves as their piazza, fed by the natural hot springs nearby.
“Our session will include working with some basic perspective as we capture several buildings receding away from the viewer. We’ll simplify backgrounds into a single dark shape to provide value contrast against the stucco-ed facades. The deep dark depths of the central spa pool pick up subtle reflections of warm stucco, interrupted by ripples across the water. Some backwash, a bit of tissue blotting, and softening with a brush produce an impressive bit of mist rising off the warm water’s surface. Some speak Italian…we’ll paint Italian!”
Unlike many online painting tutors, Randy will not expect you to ‘look over his shoulder’ for a long demonstration, and perhaps be allowed to ask the odd question or two. No, you will be painting along at more or less the same time, trying out the watercolour techniques that Randy shows you, step-by-step. He will demonstrate some basic techniques for only a few minutes before you start painting the same subject at home. Then, after you’ve been given a little time to catch up, Randy will move onto the next part of the process. Lois Breckon from The Watermill at Posara will be on hand during the session to feed your questions. The session will last a couple of hours.
When you register for the session you will be asked for a donation. Some people ask how much this should be and so we suggest a minimum of £20 GBP. Our Zoom painting demonstrations do take quite a bit of time in preparation and administration and your support is very much appreciated. With your generosity we can plan and run further sessions and, more importantly, provide a regular meeting place for creativity, camaraderie and fun. We hope that you enjoy the international, online painting community that we have created.
Once you have registered you will be provided with two links. The first is the Zoom link for you to join the session. Please note that the start time is 4pm UK time (GMT) which equates to 11.00am – East Coast USA; 10.00am – Central Time USA; 9.00am – Mountain Time USA; 8.00am – Pacific Coast Time USA.
The second link is where you will find a line drawing, a practice painting, and a list of equipment and colours for your palette. If you would like to paint along with Randy, be warned that he works fast and you may like to have your own drawing ready.
After the event, you are invited to add your painting to the private gallery, where you will be able to view the same scene uploaded by your fellow painters on Zoom. Randy will comment on your painting if you post it within a week of the event. In addition, we will send you a link to a video that will enable to you revisit Randy’s step-by-step teaching.
When you have painted with Randy online, why not join him for real at the Watermill in Tuscany Italy next summer? We would love to welcome you to the Watermill. You can find more details of Randy’s week-long course, 13 to 20 May 2023, here. Currently the week is fully booked, but there are often cancellations and if you’re keen to come let us know via the Watermill contact form (by clicking here) and we will put you on the waiting list.
Randy Hale
13 – 20 May 2023 – fully booked, waiting list open
Watercolours
To learn more about Randy and his course at the mill, please visit his 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
We still have some availability with others of our inspiring tutors, who would love to welcome you here,. Here is the list of Courses that still have spaces:
come on one of these, we will put on a waiting list. You can see the whole list by clicking here.
Maggie Renner Hellmann
24 June – 1 July 2023 – one place available
Oil and watercolour (acrylic, pastel)
To learn more about Maggie and her course at the mill, please visit her 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Fiona Graham-Mackay
1 – 8 July 2023 – still places
Painting en plein air (oil, acrylic, watercolour, pastel)
To learn more about Fiona and her course at the mill, please visit her 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Belinda Biggs
8 – 15 July 2023 – still places
Watercolours
To learn more about Belinda and her course at the mill, please visit her 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Mary Padgett
26 August – 2 September 2023 – still places
Pastels (and other portable media) en plein air
To learn more about Mary and her course at the mill, please visit her 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Mike Willdridge
9 – 16 September 2023 – one or two places available
Watercolours and drawing (also gouache and acrylics)
To learn more about Mike and his course at the mill, please visit his 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Charles Sluga
23 – 30 September 2023 – one or two places available
Watercolours (acrylics and oils)
To learn more about Charles and his course at the mill, please visit his 2023 Tutor Profile Page