A Sketchbook Full of Tuscany
with Renee Walden

New Zealand

🗓️ 11 - 18 October 2027

🎨 Watercolours

Full Board Accommodation: from 2,490€ for 7 nights at our other location Borgo Burlamacchi near Lucca.

Tutor's Fee: 900€

Partners & family may join the trip as non-participating guests without the teaching fee.

Renee's Website

Accommodation

Course Description

A week of plein air painting in the heart of a living Italian town as the hills take on their beautiful autumn colours.

Renee will show you how to create loose, vibrant watercolour sketches — the sort that capture not just what a place looks like, but how it felt to be there. A personal diary of a week you won't forget.

Renee’s Rignana Estate retreat is fully booked. But good news! She’s bringing a second group to our other beautiful home in Tuscany - Borgo Burlamacchi in Bagni di Lucca.

A different landscape entirely — a river valley, a historic spa town, chestnut forests turning gold in October — but the same quiet luxury and the same unhurried pace that makes Tuscany so special.

We paint OUTSIDE — that's where the magic happens.

Each day we’ll pack out sketchbooks and head out of the door to sketch on location. Historic buildings, beautiful bridges, river scenes, urban sketching and ambles in the forest to do nature sketching at the best time of the year. It’s all on our doorstep. Further afield, we’ll go to Florence for the day to explore and sketch in this beautiful town.  

At home we have a studio for inclement weather and for demonstrations, theory, and time for working on your individual projects with my guidance.

You'll learn to work with a limited palette, understand perspective without fear, capture the autumn Tuscan light and atmosphere quickly, and create loose, expressive sketches that preserve the feeling of a place.

All levels are welcome, from first-timers to painters who want to loosen up and find more confidence on location. Through daily demonstrations and personal feedback, Renee will help you find your own way to sketch the world the around you.

You'll leave with a sketchbook full of Tuscany, skills that travel with you, and the kind of week you'll keep coming back to in your memory.

Watercolour sketchbook and paint palette set up en plein air in front of a historic Tuscan church, painting retreat at Rignan

What Renee says … "I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve visited Italy and the hundreds of sketches I have of this magical country - the architecture, the vistas, the friendly locals, the food, the wine! In October 2025 I guided a sketching retreat in Tuscany and was blown away by how inspiring that time of year is - the colours, the light, the cosy studio sessions. I’m so excited to be visiting Borgo Burlamacchi in Bagni di Lucca at the same time of year and sharing this incredible experience with another group."

About Renee

For 18 years, I’ve taken a sketchbook everywhere with me. What started as a side hobby on a climbing trip to Spain and France completely transformed how I experience the world. Now I have a big stack of sketchbooks filled with priceless memories – villages, landscapes, flowers, food, people, and little notes that transport me straight back to those moments.

Sketching outside has immersed me in places in ways I never could have imagined, creating vivid memories and allowing me to meet locals I wouldn't have encountered otherwise.

I've been teaching watercolour since 2017. My teaching approach is relaxed and fun. Whether you're nervous about painting in public, unsure about colour mixing, or intimidated by perspective, I'll guide you through it with patience, encouragement, and practical demonstrations. Small group sizes mean ample one-on-one time with each participant daily. By the end of our time together, you'll be the artist who never travels without a sketchbook.