Yes, on the latest Watermill online interactive ‘virtual’ painting week you can spend a couple of hours every day painting in glorious locations in sunny Tuscany Italy. And within a short time of your arrival you will be painting this sunny street scene in Pisa. Then, during the week, you will capture with your brush the two ladies gossiping in a town square, as in the picture below; visit a market in the wonderful walled town of Lucca; enjoy the tranquillity of an ancient convent; savour the history of a thousand-year-old village with soaring mountains in the background; and paint in the warm and welcoming Watermill courtyard.
Your guide and guru for the relaxing and inspiring interactive painting week will be the celebrated English watercolourist Mike Willdridge. It will run from Saturday 20 February to Friday 26 February inclusive. So you have just two days left to make sure of your place under the Tuscan sun. You will find details below of how to make your reservation.
Mike calls it a ‘great adventure’ and it will certainly add spice to your life: painting along with him, learning more about the techniques of watercolour painting and, perhaps above all, enjoying the international camaraderie of like-minded people. We are expecting 100 people or so to join in, from various parts of the world.
The response to our first online, interactive ‘virtual’ week at the end of last year was overwhelming. As one participant said: “It was a fabulous week and over all too quickly. I can’t tell you how much I am missing being in Tuscany! It was the best thing I have done all year. Mike’s demonstrations were so clear and informative. I felt I learnt more in seven days than I have in seven years!â€
Each daily session will last two-and-a-half hours or so. It’s the next best thing to being here and it will bring Italian sunshine and memories of la Bella Vita to brighten your days.
And don’t be daunted, as well as being fun, Mike’s virtual week is very much a ‘mini course in watercolour painting’. He says: “We start easy and progress through the week and each day is related to the others, so it will benefit both the beginner and those with more experience.â€
To help give you the real flavour (pardon the pun) of a Watermill painting week, as well as those live daily paint-along sessions, you will also receive mouth-watering Watermill recipes, for you to try out at home.
I have also made a short Facebook slide show with these images, so you can see them a little larger and tempt your palate even more. Just click here.
After each painting session there will be an exclusive video of Mike’s demonstration to refresh your memory. There will also be a daily gallery where you can post your paintings and admire the efforts of your fellow participants paintings. and you’ll even have a chance to win one of Mike’s outstanding paintings.
Mike Willdridge works in a wide range of media and is an enthusiastic and energetic tutor, often encouraging his students to be bold and to take chances. His classes are always light-hearted and fun, with the ‘teaching’ tailored to individual needs. A comment from a previous painter: “Mike Willdridge is a most inspiring tutor whose energy and enthusiasm encourages students to develop both their visual awareness and confidence. His patience and good humour create an enjoyable atmosphere in which students thrive.†Another said: “Mike is a superb tutor and his online, interactive painting sessions are inspiring and fun.â€
Unlike many online painting programmes, Mike’s 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 Mike has shown 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 have had your turn, Mike will move onto the next part of the process. Lois Breckon will be on hand to feed your questions. Each session will last a couple of hours.
And there is more: Lois will supply you with recipes for some of the renowned mouth-watering Watermill dishes, from amaretto mouse ice cream to baked salmon with a pistachio crust.
And there is even more: At the end of the week we will put all the participants’ names into a lottery and the winner will be sent one of Mike’s original paintings from the online course. (To comply with the law there has to be an element of skill in a lottery these days, so were going to ask you a question about the Watermill and its painting locations.
The cost?
It obviously takes a good deal of time and effort to organise the sessions and in administration and personal communications with each of the participants. So we think the virtual painting week at the Watermill is incredibly good value for money: £70 (English pounds) for all seven daily sessions and all the add-ons. That’s just £10 for each one of these inspiring, interactive online sessions. (This is a block booking: If you can’t make it each day, you will still receive access to all the videos, the daily gallery and have an entry into the lottery for your chance to win Mike’s original paintings.
Here’s how to register
Please register for Mike’s virtual online, interactive painting week at the Watermill from Saturday 20 February to Friday 26 February 2021, using our online events organiser, Eventbrite. Just click here.
When you’ve enjoyed working with Mike online, why not join him for real, on his Watermill course next year?
Mike Willdridge
Saturday 28 August to Saturday 4 September 2021 AND Saturday 4 September to Saturday 11 September 2021
Watercolours and drawing (also gouache and acrylics)
To learn more about Mike and his week at the Watermill, please click here.
You can also learn about all our renowned creative courses, in painting, creative writing, knitting and Italian language, by clicking here. We would love you to join us!