Beyond the Eyes, was more than a workshop
It has been a month since my workshop at Art Escape Italy took place. I was waiting for the right moment to share this experience with you, I just needed time to process this expirience.
When I was preparing the workshop, I knew it was going to be different and emotionally demanding. If you know me, you know that I always say painting is an extension of the self, painting as something deeper than just an image.
This workshop was not different, a workshop dedicated to everyone who wanted to discover how to paint more expressive and emotive portraits — where technique must partner with a genuine understanding of the artist’s mind and a connection with who we truly are.
I hope this post is able to imagine what this experience has been.
Arrival
My wife Esther and I traveled to Art Escape the day before the students arrived. It was late afternoon, and the villa’s silhouette — with rooms here and there glowing with orange light against the intense cobalt blue sky — was simply beautiful.
Art Escape Italy is located in beautiful Tuscany, about 40 minutes from Florence by car. It is a huge Italian villa named Fontallorso, perched on a hill and surrounded by nature.
We met Tana and Dorian, the minds behind Art Escape Italy. It was a busy day for them preparing the last details before the season’s first venue. We had a warm welcome and a lovely dinner together.
The next morning I had time to relax before the students arrived from Florence in the afternoon. I went to the beautiful octagonal wooden studio where I would teach all week — a separate building in the garden with incredible views and a Japanese-style pond. Inside: 18 French easels arranged in a circle and a large master easel in the centre where I would work and lead my live demos.
By afternoon all the participants had arrived. The group was 17 people from around the globe, from Canada to Sweden. Everyone was excited to begin this journey together.
Day one
There is nothing better than breakfast together on the outdoor terrace with Tuscan views stretching before us. Classes ran from 9:00 to 12:30 and 14:00 to 17:00, with a gong marking each transition.
At 9:00 we were all in the studio, ready and excited.
Everyone prepared their tools and gathered around my easel. I opened the workshop by setting our mantra for the week: this week is not about making beautiful paintings. It is a moment to experiment through portraiture and discover our full potential as an artist — a journey of artistic self-discovery.
Each day followed the same structure: a demonstration, student practice, and a reflection section where I would show a selection of my own paintings to illustrate difficult concepts like the painting process, the importance of learning to fail, or how something insignificant can trigger your artistic universe, and how to find your own voice.
Day one covered expression, the artistic process, colour theory and palette building.
Demo 1: Building a painting from thin to thick in acrylics. Demo 2: The same approach in oils.
Day two
Second day was about playing with imagination and understanding how our brain remembers images through our paintings.
I shared three paintings I made from the same idea — three depictions of the same face, each using a different approach: painting with reference (painting from life), painting with reference and inventing (using my previous painting as reference), and painting from memory (no reference at all). This is an exercise I practice when I want to move from rigid, controlled work towards something more visceral and poetic.
The group did an amazing job at drawing from memory!
Demo 3: Painting the reference from memory.
Day three
Imaginary landscapes and portraits where the figure blends with the background helped me explain a third painting process — the one I use when I need to engage faster with painting, to free my mind before the focused work of portrait drawing.
Third day’s practice: paint an abstract landscape, a colourful melody that will serve as the foundation for the following portrait.
Demo 4: Portrait painting on top of an abstract painting. Background as a vehicle for the figure.
In the afternoon we discussed how controlling the creative process brings you closer to being truly yourself as an artist — it means you are responsible for the entire outcome.
We followed this with a guided photographic session with a model, where each student took the images they would use for the next two days. We closed with a live drawing session.
A car race took place outside the villa, blocking us in from 7:00 to 17:00. The model Irene Manco couldn’t arrive, but Esther stepped in and posed for everyone’s photoshoot and live drawing session. Thank you, E!
Day four
Fourth day: Accepting mistakes as part of the game.
This was when everyone became fully responsible for their own creative process from start to finish. They had their photographs. Now it was time to choose their own approach — to develop a more refined, expressive and personal artwork. Every student with their own project.
Demo 5: Destroying existing work to create better ones. I tore apart Demo 2, keeping only the face, and glued it over a previously painted abstract background — beginning an invented portrait.
In the afternoon we gathered in Fontallorso’s beautiful ballroom, where I presented works from every year since 2016 until today. The point was to share an artist’s evolution — how we adopt a theme, how a small detail can evolve into something that shapes our identity, and how life experiences shape our work.
Day five
It was the last day. Time flies when you are immersed in something you love.
Fifth day was about merging all the ideas together. It is not easy when technique, philosophy and psychology converge — but the truth is, it works.
Around twenty of my works from 2020 onwards were displayed on the floor: watercolours, drawings, oils, acrylics, collages, figures, heads, landscapes, sketches and paintings. Together they represent everything we learned — from technique to process.
What unites all of us is your identity as an artist and as a human being. Every lesson this week was an attempt to dismantle the barriers we build around the idea of creating art — in this case, through painting.
Painting and creating art are an act of freedom, where we are able to be truly ourselves without any filter. The moment art becomes an act of freedom, it moves from being a craft to being a mirror of who we are.
Each student finished their projects, and many began second and third pieces. The energy was extraordinary. Everyone pushed their limits through portraiture — something that can feel so intimidating when painting other humans — each in their own way, each with their own ideas, each one step closer to being the artist they already are.
Demo 6: Continuation of an invented portrait.
At 17:00, I rang the gong one last time to close this adventure.
We gathered together, toasting with prosecco and sharing what we had accomplished during the week.
That evening we had an amazing dinner with a live band in the ballroom — the perfect closure to such an intense week.
Thanks to everyone involved in the workshop: Tana, Dorian, the students, and the entire Art Escape Italy team.
And a special thanks to Esther for being such an essential pillar always.
This workshop was designed to help students understand that what happens on the canvas is not only the result of controlling technique — it is the result of being ourselves, acting with freedom, and sharing our unique understanding of the world.
One last thank to the two brands who supported me, Lefranc Bourgeoise for your trust in this adventure and to Schaal colors for making possible to have your amazing handmade oils on time!
