Join us for the perfect week of artistic inspiration in the Tuscan Farmhouse home of artists Jeremy Sutton and Peggy Gyulai, your teachers and guides as we explore Florence and historic hill towns


Click here to go to the Registration Form

In this “All Levels” workshop your teachers Jeremy Sutton and Peggy Gyulai share their insights, techniques and favorite tools and materials. We’ll draw and paint the spectacular views that surround their beautiful historic farmhouse, Vignale (see escapetochianti.com), surrounded by nature yet minutes from fine wineries and destination restaurants.

You will enjoy:

  • “All Levels” – learn at your own speed
  • All materials supplied

    • Includes hotel and some dinners

  • Learning to draw and paint from direct observation, reflecting your own unique style and point of view
  • Inspirational subject matter in a beautiful environment
  • Small class size (maximum 8 students)
  • Professional level, portable, Plein Air Art Kit that includes Zecchi oil paints and high quality watercolors (from Florence) and hand made papers for you to keep
  • Two world class artist instructors
  • One-on-one feedback and support
  • Art history day tour of Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance
  • Sketching trips to historic hill towns
  • Delicious food and wine
  • Fun “apertivos”, cooking class and happy hours – the ultimate “Paint & Sip” in Chianti!

A lunch on the balcony at Vignale

Peggy and I bring different perspectives and approaches, each sharing our techniques and tips that we use as professional artists. You’ll learn a wealth of practical skills and ideas you will use well beyond the workshop!

Vignale

Price

The price, USD $3,800, includes all instruction; an art materials kit (including pencils, Caran D’Ache Neocolor II water soluble pastels, Italian made Zecchi watercolor and oil media, sketch book); transportation for the field trip to Florence, a historical tour in Florence by a top tour guide; breakfasts, lunches, and beverages throughout the week, final night class dinner and six nights accommodation at Villa Rosa. Does not include air or ground transportation to and from the workshop, meals other than those above. If two students share a room at Villa Rosa they each pay $500 less. Registration deadline is September 1. Early registration preferred by May 1.

Sampling of some of what to expect in the Plein Air Art Kit (exact items may vary slightly)


Peggy drawing at Vignale


Italian cooking class

Florence scene on the famous Ponte Vecchio, one of the places we will visit on the field trip

Visit to the market at the local historic hill town of Radda in Chianti

View from Vignale porch

Workshop Location

The workshop takes place at our historic farmhouse, Vignale (see escapetochianti.com). Vignale overlooks the village of Lucarelli and the Monterinaldi Winery and is between Radda and Panzano in Chianti. We are about 45 minutes drive south of Florence and 30 minutes north of Siena.


One of the magnificent vistas seen from Vignale, looking towards the Monterinaldi Winery.

If you’re flying in, Florence Peratola / Amerigo Vespucci airport is the closest airport. You may find cheaper flights to other regional airports like Pisa or Bologna (each about 90 minutes drive away). Generally we’d recommend renting a car for convenience getting around the Tuscan countryside. In the cities a car isn’t needed and the train connections between major cities are excellent.

The Vignale main room

Accommodation

We have reserved a block of rooms at the charming family run Villa Rosa hotel (villarosapanzano.it/en/). It is a few minutes drive from the workshop location and includes a swimming pool. The accommodation is included in the workshop price. Breakfast is served on their beautiful outdoor loggia.

Sunrise view from Villa Rosa looking towards Vignale. We are the group of 13 cypress trees visible across the valley on the far hillside (directly above the motorcycle if you look carefully!)


A room at Villa Rosa


The swimming pool at Villa Rosa

Syllabus

Wednesday, October 4
Arrive at Villa Rosa

Thursday, October 5
Painting the Italian Table – Seeing Line, Shape and Shade
Intro to materials, pencils, Caran d’Ache and watercolor
optional classes on da Vinci silver point and gilded techniques and digital da Vinci (iPad drawing)

Friday, October 6
Painting the Tuscan Vineyard
Color, Accents & Contrast, Block Out, Refine and Focus, Oil Technique
Lunch at Osteria le Panzanelle outside in their garden.

Saturday, October 7th
Sketching in a Medieval Tuscan Hill Town

Sunday, October 8
The Art of Florence City Day with History Tour

Monday, October 9th
Winery Visit & Sketching
Cooking class with dinner at Vignale

Tuesday, October 10th
Check out of Villa Rosa.

Please note syllabus is subject to change.

About Your Instructors

Jeremy Sutton
JeremySutton.com

Artist and digital painting pioneer Jeremy Sutton is a Corel Painter Master Elite artist and has been at the fore-front of the use of the iPad for live event painting since 2012. Born in London, UK, Jeremy studied life drawing, sculpture and etching at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford, U.K., while earning a degree in Physics from Pembroke College, Oxford University. He studied lithography and life drawing at De Vrije Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten, The Hague, The Netherlands, before moving to the heart of Silicon Valley, California, in 1988. First introduced to digital paint in 1991, he has been exploring the digital art medium ever since.

After a career selling superconducting magnets for Physics research, Jeremy became a full time professional artist in 1994. He is the author of six books on digital painting, founder of the educational online resource PaintboxTV, host of the interview show The Portrait Conversation, and teaches and performs digital painting world-wide (in-person and virtually) at live events. He has been a platform speaker at many international conferences, performed live digital painting for Cirque du Soleil in the TOTEM show Tapis Rouge tent in San Francisco; was the featured iPad artist at the opening of the epic David Hockney “Bigger Exhibition” in the de Young Museum, 2012, and at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s “America Now! Innovation in Art” event in Washington D.C., 2015; and painted live on stage as the visual component of the Birdland All-Stars featuring Tommy Igoe “Art of Jazz” five-week east coast tour.

Peggy Gyulai
PeggyGyulai.com

San Francisco painter Peggy Gyulai creates oil and mixed media paintings inspired by music, working with a palette of shapes, colors, motion, and emotion relating to the sound and feeling of orchestral music and jazz.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Biological Anthropology, she studied painting and drawing at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Her paintings are in more than 70 collections in the US and Europe and have been exhibited in galleries in San Francisco and Philadelphia. She created critically acclaimed series for The Philadelphia Orchestra and The Music Institute of Chicago, and was artist-in-residence at the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Art Futures program, with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, the de Young Museum and Music at Kohl Mansion. In addition to her San Francisco abstract studio work and series, Peggy also paints on location in Tuscany, Italy, as well as on the coast near Portland Maine—experimenting with different approaches to realism.

What to Bring

  • Light layered clothing
  • Sunscreen
  • Sun glasses
  • Swim wear (for the Villa Rosa swimming pool)
  • Comfortable shoes (for the Florence art history tour)
  • If you wish to participate in any iPad digital sketching (not required), then you will need an iPad or iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil and the app Procreate loaded.

All physical art materials will be provided.

Terms

Payment is paid in full on registration and guarantees you a place in this workshop. The payment is non-refundable. All but $1,500 can be applied to other workshops we organize at Vignale in the future if you are, for any reason, unable to make it to this one.

Questions?

If you have any questions please email peggygyulai@mac.com or jeremy@jeremysutton.com. We look forward to welcoming you to the beauty of Tuscany where every view looks like a painting!

Registration Form