How to pick the perfect painting holiday

First timer or professional painter, the right painting holiday can give a huge boost to your artistic abilities and can send you back home with bags of confidence and a renewed passion for painting.

But if all you wanted to do was perfect your painting, you would have booked a class back at home.

Painting holidays are an opportunity to discover a new country, taste new foods, make new friends and let your creative juices find inspiration in new cultures, colours and landscapes. Yet, with so many places and possible approaches on offer, picking the ideal painting holiday is about deciding what you want to achieve and then finding one that suits you best.

Questions, questions. 
No website will be able to answer all your queries, so it’s perfectly reasonable to ask individual questions. Any decent tutor or holiday company will be more than happy to help you out and, here at Flavours Holidays, we welcome your questions – understanding what you want before you book can also help us to make sure our painting holidays appeal to a wide range of guests. So, whether you want to find out more about the mediums we work with, the size of the classes, the materials that will be available, or even the timings of the day, just ask. 


Find out about your tutor. 

It’s certainly inspiring if your tutor is a celebrated artist, and encouraging if you love their style, but fantastic artists don’t necessarily make fantastic teachers. Find out who your tutor will be by looking for feedback from previous guests or ask if they have a history of teaching. At Flavours Holidays, many of our tutors are award winning artists who also have proven teaching abilities, and we always look for compassion and patience in the tutors we work with. Decide who you’d most like to learn from, by reading their profiles on our website. 


Studio-based or touring? 
Decide what your priorities are. If you want to experience as much of a country as possible, with a bit of painting thrown in, then a painting holiday that prioritises lots of travel may be for you. However, all that travel and sightseeing can be hugely tiring – so much so that you may just want to flop at the end of the day, rather than pick up a paint brush. Yet a center-based holiday that’s too restrictive may mean that you don’t get to see much of the country you’ve travelled to. At Flavours Holidays, we think we’ve got the balance right by combining painting tuition with cultural experiences and day trips. That way, you get to indulge in your passion for painting whilst also experiencing the very best of Italy’s regions. 

Location, Location, Location 
If you want to paint rolling hills and neat, green vineyards, Tuscany could be ideal. For rich blue seascapes and classic lemon groves, try Sicily. Or head to Umbria to capture the historic landscapes. If you have particular objectives in mind, take the time to find out a bit more about the destinations on offer, or ask for recommendations before you book.