Sketch, Paint, Wander: Umbria
A hands-on week of watercolor in one of Italy’s most beautiful regions
September 14 - 20
This is not simply a watercolor workshop. It’s an immersive week set in the stone heart of Vallo di Nera, a pristine medieval village in Umbria where life unfolds at its own pace.
For one week, we live and work together inside that rhythm—sharing meals, walking ancient cobblestone lanes, and painting what’s right in front of us as the light and the day shift. Led by artist Jenny Neal, the experience blends daily plein air painting and sketching with steady, in-the-moment guidance, whether you’re just starting out or looking to go deeper.
Here, the setting isn’t a backdrop—it becomes the subject. From quiet corners of the village to the hill towns of Spoleto and Spello, from a hillside cemetery to a 200 year old outdoor oven fired up for lunch, each place offers something to observe, interpret, and put down on paper.
Evenings settle into long dinners, shared work reviews, and easy conversation. This is a chance to slow down and really see—where painting, place, and daily life come together in a small Umbrian village.
Jenny Neal
Your Watercolor Teacher
Jenny Neal is a writer, journalist, photographer, artist, and the founder of Upstate DispatchTM, a journal celebrating life in the Catskills through print and online
media, marking its 12th anniversary this year. Jenny is an active member of the Catskills art community and belongs to the Catskills Figure Drawing group that meets weekly year-round in Andes and Margaretville.
She runs an art studio and gallery in Margaretville, NY, where she sells her watercolors and photography.Inside the Retreat
6 -Day Watercolor Retreat: Plein Air Painting in Vallo di Nera and Sketching Across Umbria’s Hill Towns
Vallo di Nera: Where You Set Up and Paint
Passing through the stone gate into Vallo di Nera feels like stepping into a place that hasn’t rushed to keep up. The light shifts slowly across the walls, details start to emerge, and the longer you’re there, the more there is to notice.
This is where the painting happens. Easels go up in the village itself—along narrow lanes, near worn doorways, in small open spaces where the light and composition come together. Nothing is staged. You’re working directly from what’s there, taking it in, and translating it onto the page as it unfolds.
Watercolor with Jenny: A Way of Working
This isn’t about making perfect paintings. It’s about learning how to slow down, look closely, and respond to what’s in front of you.
Each day, Jenny Neal works alongside the group with a steady, approachable style—helping you simplify what you’re seeing, understand light and shape, and build a painting from observation. There’s a loose start to the day to get oriented, and then guidance continues naturally as you’re out working.
As the week unfolds, we spend time looking at what everyone’s doing—talking through choices, noticing what works, and learning from each other. It stays easy, practical, and rooted in actually being there and doing the work.
Home Base: Casa della Zia
This is where everything starts and ends. Casa della Zia sits right in Vallo di Nera, part of the village itself—not separate from it.
Mornings begin here with coffee and a slow start before heading out to paint. Midday, you come back to regroup, eat, and take a break. Evenings settle in with shared meals, conversation, and time to look at what everyone worked on.
It’s not a hotel setup. It’s a lived-in space that becomes familiar quickly—a place to reset, spread out your materials, and feel like you’re part of the rhythm of the week.
Painting in Vallo: The Daily Practice
Each day, we head out into the village to paint.
Easels are set up, materials are ready, and from there it’s simply a matter of choosing a spot. That’s not the hard part. In Vallo di Nera, every direction gives you something—stone walls, arches, doorways, light moving across the buildings, small details that start to stand out the longer you look.
This isn’t a staged setting. The village is lived in, and that comes through in what you’re painting. You settle into one place, work from what’s in front of you, and begin to notice more as the days go on.
A Small Group: Working Side by Side
This stays intentionally small.
Not for the sake of exclusivity, but because it changes how the week works. You’re not rotating through stations or trying to keep up with a group. You’re set up near each other, working at your own pace, but close enough to see what someone else is doing, ask a quick question, or just take it in.
It becomes easy. Conversations happen naturally. You learn as much from being around it as you do from direct instruction.
The Hill Towns: Sketching as You Go
Throughout the week, we head out to a handful of Umbria’s hill towns—Spoleto, Spello, Norcia, Assisi. Each one has its own feel, but they all give you the same thing: strong shapes, layered architecture, and details that hold your attention.
This isn’t about setting up for a full painting. It’s more about moving through the towns, stopping when something catches your eye, and sketching it as it is—quickly, directly, without overthinking it.
Doorways, staircases, light hitting stone, people passing through—these moments come and go. You learn to grab them, simplify them, and keep moving.
It’s a different pace from Vallo, and that’s the point.
The Pizza Party: Fired in the Garden
One afternoon, everything shifts back to the house.
The oven in the garden—over 200 years old—gets fired up, and the process becomes part of the experience. Dough is stretched, toppings go on, the fire is managed, and one by one the pizzas come out—simple, fast, and better than they have any right to be.
You can sketch it if you want—the movement, the fire, the hands at work—but most people just take it in.
It’s one of those moments where everyone gathers, eats, talks, and lets the day settle in.
The Walk to the Next Town: Arrive and Paint
One day, we leave Vallo on foot and make our way to the next town—either through the hills or along the valley.
It’s not just the destination. The walk itself shifts your perspective. You notice the landscape changing, the light opening up, the space between places.
When you arrive, everything is already there—easels, paints, water, set up and waiting. You don’t have to think about logistics. You just pick a spot and start painting.
It’s a different setting, a different kind of light, but the same idea—work from what’s in front of you and let the place lead.
