A Painter's Guide to Oil Painting Holidays in France

An oil painting holiday in France is a tutored, residential week in which a small group works alongside a practising artist, in the studio and out in the landscape. The weeks that serve a developing painter best teach a defined method, keep the group small enough for individual critique, and take care of the two practical problems particular to oils: solvents that cannot travel by air, and canvases that are still wet on the day you leave.

At Château de Saint-Germain-des-Prés in the northern Dordogne, Toronto-based painter Alanna Peters teaches grisaille, glazing and alla prima over seven nights, from 4 to 11 May 2027, for a group of no more than 10 painters. Prices start at €2,995 per person, and the full details are on the Light & Movement oil painting retreat in France page.

Why Oil Painters Keep Coming to France

Painting outdoors in oils became practical in 1841, when the collapsible metal paint tube replaced the pig's bladder as the way to carry colour, and it was in France that painters put the invention to its fullest use. The Barbizon painters carried their easels into the forest of Fontainebleau, the Impressionists followed them out along the Seine and the Normandy coast, and the habit of setting up in front of the subject has belonged to French painting ever since.

The Dordogne has a longer claim on the subject than any of them. The palaeolithic paintings reproduced in full at Lascaux IV, an hour or so south of the château, were made by people working with mineral pigment by lamplight, and they remain some of the most assured drawing in existence. A week of painting here sits inside that very long tradition of people looking hard at the world and finding a way to set it down.

What a Week of Oil Painting in France Involves

Most tutored weeks follow the same broad shape, with instruction in the morning when attention is sharpest, independent work in the afternoon, and one or two days given over to the region itself. The week Alanna has designed for Manor & Maker gives a clear picture of how that works in practice.

1. Arrival. Guests settle into the château and meet Alanna and hosts Sara and Stephen Cole over a champagne reception and the first dinner.

2. Foundations. The first studio day covers setting up the palette and the structure of an image, with a demonstration in grisaille and an afternoon at your own canvas.

3. Progression. Alanna introduces glazing, laying transparent colour over the tonal underpainting made the day before.

4. Market day. The morning goes to a farmers' market in a nearby town, and the afternoon is yours for the studio or for the grounds.

5. Quick and loose. A day of alla prima, working a whole painting through wet-on-wet in a single session.

6. Nature. Easels go outdoors for plein air work in the Dordogne landscape, followed by an afternoon in the studio refining what you began.

7. Exposition. The group visits one of the region's classified villages or another château, then hangs the week's work for an evening exposition and prepares the canvases for travel.

8. Departure. Breakfast, farewells and the transfer back to the station.

Five of the eight days carry formal instruction, which leaves enough room around the teaching for the work to settle and for the place to have its effect.

Three Classical Methods, Explained

The Light & Movement week is built around three techniques that between them account for most of the history of European oil painting. Each rewards a different temperament, and learning all three in sequence shows a painter where their own hand naturally wants to go.

Grisaille

A grisaille is an underpainting made entirely in greys, in which the painter resolves drawing, composition and the full range of light and dark before any colour arrives. Separating value from colour removes the hardest juggling act in painting, and it explains why so many pictures that feel muddy in colour turn out to have a problem with tone.

Glazing

Glazing lays thin, transparent films of oil colour over a dry underpainting, so that light passes through the colour, strikes the paler layer beneath and returns to the eye. The glow this produces cannot be mixed on a palette, and it depends on patience, since each layer needs to be dry to the touch before the next goes on.

Alla Prima

Alla prima, sometimes called direct painting or wet-on-wet, means completing a picture in one sitting while every stroke is still workable. It asks for decisiveness and an economy of brushwork, and it is the method most painters carry outdoors, where the light gives them two hours at best before the subject changes.

Choosing an Oil Painting Holiday

A handful of questions will tell you most of what you need to know about any tutored week, and they are worth putting to an organiser before paying a deposit.

Who teaches, and how do they work? Look for an artist who both exhibits and teaches, since the two skills are distinct and a week depends on having both. Alanna Peters has taught for more than two decades in classrooms, galleries and art schools, her work hangs in private collections across Canada, the United States and Europe, and she teaches in English and French.

Is there a method? Some weeks offer open studio time with a tutor on hand, and others follow a planned sequence of demonstrations that build on one another. Painters who feel they have reached a plateau generally gain more from the second kind, which is how the Light & Movement week is organised.

What level is it pitched at? An honest answer here saves disappointment on both sides. This retreat suits painters who already have some experience and want proper classical foundations, with daily demonstration and critique. Anyone picking up a brush for the first time will be happier on Creative Adventures, the château's beginner-friendly art retreat, and painters who prefer acrylics have the Colours of France retreat.

What is supplied? Oils involve more equipment than any other medium, so ask precisely what will be waiting for you. At the château each painter has an easel, a workstation in the studio and four canvases, and brings their own paints and brushes or has them shipped ahead.

Can a partner come without painting? Many painters travel with someone who would sooner read in the garden. A non-participating partner can join the Light & Movement week for €995, sharing the room, the meals and the excursions.

Travelling with Oil Paints

Artists' oil colours are, for the most part, permitted in aircraft baggage. Winsor & Newton's [guidance on flying with art materials](https://uk.winsornewton.com/pages/travelling-by-plane-with-winsor-newton-art-materials) explains that products with a flash point below 61°C count as dangerous goods, and that tube oil colours and linseed oils sit far above that threshold. Solvents and thinners are a different matter and should stay at home, since airlines refuse them whatever their flash point.

A few habits make the airport easier. Pack tubes in sealed bags in your checked luggage, as cabin pressure encourages caps to weep, and carry a printed safety data sheet from the manufacturer in case a member of staff asks what the tubes contain. Airlines do set their own rules beyond the international ones, so a quick check with your carrier before you fly is sensible.

The simplest route of all is to send your materials ahead, and the château accepts deliveries for guests arriving on a retreat. The studio provides odourless solvent and linseed oil, so neither needs to travel with you.

Getting the finished work home deserves the same forethought. Oil paint takes days to become touch-dry, and thicker passages take far longer, so an alla prima study made on Saturday will still be wet on Tuesday. Painters commonly travel with a wet panel carrier, or stack same-sized canvases face to face with spacers at the corners. The last evening of the Light & Movement week sets aside time to prepare each painting for the trip, and the village post office is close by for anyone who would rather ship their canvases than carry them.

Painting the Northern Dordogne in May

The château stands in the Périgord Vert, the green northern quarter of the Dordogne, where the country is wooded, well watered and noticeably quieter than the river valley to the south. In early May the leaves are newly out and the light holds until around nine in the evening, which gives a plein air painter a long, slow change of colour to work with at the end of the day.

Subjects lie close at hand. The château's 16th-century tower, with its broad spiral staircase of stone and the crest of the family who built it, stands in fifteen hectares of grounds that guests are free to wander with a sketchbook. Within a short drive, Ségur-le-Château gathers its medieval ruins along the Auvézère, Saint-Jean-de-Côle arranges a château, a church and a Romanesque bridge around a single square, and the formal gardens at Hautefort offer a lesson in clipped geometry against open sky. Our guide to what's nearby covers the wider area.

Then there is the table, which matters after six hours on your feet at an easel. Valérie and Megan of Sel Hospitalité, who hold the cuisine, boulangerie and pâtisserie diplomas from Le Cordon Bleu, cook most of the week's meals from the produce of the Périgord, and guests are welcome in the kitchen to watch and ask questions. Breakfast pastries come from the boulangerie a few steps from the gate.

The Light & Movement Retreat at a Glance

Dates	4 to 11 May 2027 (seven nights)
Tutor	Alanna Peters, oil painter, Toronto
Techniques	Grisaille, glazing, alla prima, plein air
Level	Some painting experience
Group size	Maximum 10
Place	Château de Saint-Germain-des-Prés, northern Dordogne
Starting From	€2,995 per person
Non-painting partner	€995
Included	Five days of instruction, accommodation, all meals at the château, wine with supper, four canvases, easel and workstation, market visit, day excursion with entry fees, transfer from the local station
Bring yourself	Paints, brushes, travel to the pickup point, insurance

Reservations and the full itinerary are on the oil painting retreat page (https://www.manorandmaker.com/maker/oil-painting-retreat-france).

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need experience to join an oil painting holiday in France?

It depends on the week. The Light & Movement retreat is designed for painters with some experience who want structured classical training, so a basic familiarity with paint and brushes is expected. Complete beginners are well served by Creative Adventures, which assumes no previous practice at all.

Can I take oil paints on a plane?

In most cases, yes. Artists' oil colours have high flash points and travel in checked baggage, while solvents and thinners are not accepted by airlines. Policies differ between carriers, so confirm with yours before you fly, or ship your materials to the château in advance.

How do I get wet oil paintings home?

Oil paintings made during a week away will not be dry by departure. Painters use wet panel carriers or stack canvases of matching size face to face with spacers, and the final evening of the retreat includes time to pack the work properly. A post office near the château handles parcels for guests who prefer to send paintings home.

How much does an oil painting retreat in France cost?

The Light & Movement retreat costs €3,495 for a private room or €2,995 per person sharing, with a €1,000 deposit to reserve. That covers tuition, seven nights at the château, meals, wine with supper, canvases, studio equipment, two excursions and the station transfer. Paints, brushes, travel to the Dordogne and insurance are additional.

What should I bring?

Bring your own oil colours, brushes and any tools you rely on, along with clothes you are content to paint in and a layer for evenings outdoors. Canvases, easels and workstations are provided in the studio.

Do I need to speak French?

No. Alanna teaches in English and French, and Sara and Stephen are Canadians who run the château in both languages. A few phrases will add to the pleasure of market day, and the hosts are on hand to help with the rest.

Can I come on my own?

Yes. Private rooms are available, the group is small, and meals are taken together at the château, so solo travellers find themselves among fellow painters from the first evening.