
Painting Workshops & Retreats
2025
Upcoming Events:

SANTA FE, New Mexico
4-7 June 2025
“Expressive Color with a Limited Palette“
This four-day workshop will be studio based. Presented by Bluebird Studio, there is still space so sign up soon!

CORFU, Greece
5-12 October 2025
FULLY BOOKED! 🎉
But hey, you can join the waitlist because, you know, life happens…and you never know!!
Sooooo excited for this retreat.

COSTA RICA
4-13 December 2025
Art Retreat with Martine, the fab organizer of Rainforest Escape. Last time, it was pretty darn incredible!! The workshop still has space. AND there’s a special deal if you sign up before the end of June 2025!
2024
PAST Events:

TUSCANY Oct/Nov 2024
18 Oct – 5 Nov 2024
SOLD OUT
SOLD OUT
Rather than a regular plein air workshop where we do most of the pastel painting on site, I wanted to try something different. Instead, we’ll make sketches and thumbnails and take those back to the villa. Then along with the photos we’ve taken, we’ll use this reference material to build a painting in the studio.
Past Events:

ICAN
30th, May 2023
The workshops will include a variety of breathtaking locations chosen to inspire your creative work. Subjects will include architecture, perspective, landscape, and most articularly texture, tone, and colour, working with the clarity of light that is so much a part of Tuscany’s natural beauty.

Cornwall Festival
20th, August 2023
Gail balances her art practice with creating content for her well-respected blog ‘HowToPastel’ and her online art membership IGNITE! She loves to travel and combines that with her love of teaching, offering workshops worldwide. Her pastels and accompanying instruction are featured in the book ‘Artist’s Drawing Techniques.’
2022

Pastel Live Online
August 18th-20th, 2022
The workshops will include a variety of breathtaking locations chosen to inspire your creative work. Subjects will include architecture, perspective, landscape, and most articularly texture, tone, and colour, working with the clarity of light that is so much a part of Tuscany’s natural beauty.

TUSCANY JUNE 2019
June 18th-20th, 2022
During this 10-day workshop, our focus will be working from life. Much of our time together will be spent painting outdoors on location but since we are lucky enough to have a studio on site, we’ll also spend some time there too.
We’ll go through the process of creating a painting en plein air step-by-step, from choosing what you’re going to paint, to simplifying the scene, to drawing up a thumbnail (a getting-to-know-you tool which also shapes a value pattern for your painting as well as a good composition), to blocking in the big shapes as an

2022 IAPS Convention - Old Town Albuquerque, New Mexico
June 18th-20th, 2022
Gail balances her art practice with creating content for her well-respected blog ‘HowToPastel’ and her online art membership IGNITE! She loves to travel and combines that with her love of teaching, offering workshops worldwide. Her pastels and accompanying instruction are featured in the book ‘Artist’s Drawing Techniques.’
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Favorite Tutorials


From Thumbnail To Underpainting

Creating Thumbnails En Plein Air (My Mexico Paintings)

Paint The BIG Shapes First

Unconventional Colours: My Self-Portrait in Quirky Hues

Understanding Colour Temperature

Working in a Series – Unlocking Creative Potential for Artistic Growth
Latest Edition

15 Minutes To Paint En Plein Air In Cayman
15 minutes to paint? Yes, it’s possible! See how I skipped my usual thumbnail sketch (😱), grabbed my pastels, and made the most of a fleeting plein air moment.
Recent Guest Artists

Susan Ellis – The Art of Clamming
Artist Susan Ellis paints the clammers of coastal Massachusetts. She shares her process and her love of painting these figures working in the mud.

IAPS 2024: Eight Exclusive Artist Interviews!
Join me as I chat with eight incredible pastel artists at the IAPS 2024 Convention.

Julie Greig – The Feeling Of Being There
New Zealand artist Julie Greig shares her pastel landscapes along with her process. She also takes us through her journey to becoming the artist she is today.

Jane McGraw-Teubner – Plein Air Versus Studio Painting
Jane McGraw-Teubner is a master plein air artist. Here, she shares her process and tips for painting from life versus painting from a photo.

Michele Noiset – Exploring Visual Metaphors In Pastel
Guest artist Michele Noiset works in the medium of pastel to create extraordinary images inspired by events and current issues

Mark Ivan Cole – Deep Observation and Emotional Realism
Join guest Mark Ivan Cole as he shares his wisdom and his works of forest, mountains, rocks, and water.
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Gail Sibley
Artist. Blogger. Teacher.
My love of pastel and the enjoyment I receive from teaching about pastel inspired the creation of this blog. It has tips, reviews, some opinions:), and all manner of information regarding their use through the years – old and new. Please enjoy!