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A
good painting workshop tutor will be a qualified & experienced teacher
who is sensitive to your learning needs, where ever you happen to be on
your art journey - absolute beginner or with decades of painting experience.
A good painting workshop tutor will really want you to learn &
will be sympathetic to some of the ... apprehensions ... that you might
possibly have about going on a painting course. Creativity is intimately
linked to learning, whatever level you're at.
A good painting workshop tutor will also have lots of enthusiasm, dedication,
humour & patience. Above all , the desire that you'll learn &
enjoy yourself, as well as having a good, good holiday. Laughter &
fun helps.

'The Lesson' John Singer SARGENT, 1911. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Transparent and opaque watercolor over graphite, with wax resist, on
paper. 38.1 x 46.4 cm (15 x 18 1/4 in.). The Hayden Collection. Charles
Henry Hayden Fund.
"The vanity of teaching often tempteth a man to forget
he is a blockhead." - George Saville
A good painting workshop tutor will put your learning needs first &
so will resist the urge to pontificate, to show off, to impose & to
judge. We are all vulnerable to criticism & so a good painting workshop
tutor should never pass judgement on your paintings in a way that will
hurt.
A good painting workshop tutor should inspire.... & help you get
into the spirit of enjoyment & learning.

"A true teacher does not explain - he invites you to
stand beside him and see for yourself." Raymond Inmon
A good painting workshop tutor should also have a whiff of turpentine
about him. Painting is first & foremost an activity & not a theory.
It will help you if the art teacher is a practicing artist. On a practical
level, you're far more likely to have an exciting & educative learning
experience from an experienced painter/teacher. The demonstrations will
be more natural & the guidance more relevant because he/she has been
there too. It takes many years for a teacher to become good at the art
of demonstrations.
"A picture is worth a thousand words and watching
a picture being painted is worth even more....The best teachers I've had
show you rather than tell you how to do something. Talking the talk is
far less important than walking the walk." - Charles Sovek
Adam is also a mid-career artist & so has many years of painting
experience to draw from. This really helps. He has lived in France for
years & knows the Dordogne intimately. To know something about the
history of the place you're in is important.
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