The internet is full of art courses and painting holidays, and choosing one can be challenging. After all, no-one wants to shell out hard-earned money for a disappointing experience.

That’s why, when we hand-pick courses and holidays for our offer, we pay special attention to five things:

Where do we want to go?

The first question we ask ourselves when we choose holidays is, where would we like to go? Which places interest us, what cultures, climates, and, being us, what food? Not surprisingly, we come up with a large variety of marvelous locations – each different and with their own special flair. Whether breathtaking landscapes in Devon and Cornwall, beautiful Greek islands, or the Northern Lights in Norway – this world has so much to offer, and we’d love to see them all.

So what happens once we’ve settled on locations?

Who will we meet there?

We check to see who is running art courses and painting holidays in that area. We believe tutors are key. The best location is nothing without a good tutor. We carefully vet our tutors, to make sure you get the best experience possible. Apart from the obvious factors such as experience and the techniques taught, we focus on two main areas.

Friendliness and Sympathy

Offering courses for different levels is a challenge. So we make sure that courses offered are adjusted to the level of the learners. How helpful is the tutor? Is he or she ready to help when necessary, and always ready to answer questions? Factors like being open-minded and spontaneous are also important. Creativity is a great gift, not only when it comes to producing art.

Availability and Entertainment

Marshall McLuhan said, “Anyone who tries to make a distinction between education and entertainment doesn’t know the first thing about either.”

That is so true – a good tutor always cares about his or her students and tries to get the best out of them. Teaching and learning should be full of energy and joy, so that learning is easy and playful. The best learning happens when you don’t notice it until you come back home and see the difference.

For us, these factors make or break the holiday. But they are not the only things we look for.

Where will we stay?

For us, taking an art course is an experience. And as anyone who’s travelled knows, where you stay on holiday plays a huge part in whether the experience is five-star – or no star. Transparency is important. Obviously, pictures on websites can be misleading, but usually some pictures are better than none.

We look for accommodation that offers a studio or a pavilion for rainy days. And if there are other alternatives, such as sports facilities, spa areas or restaurants, that’s a plus.

Having said that, we don’t focus on fancy four- and five-star hotels. We believe a quaint guest house and meal-times spent with other like-minded guests we meet on our courses make the experience, possibly more than any posh sleeping place. Most of our courses offer just that; quaint houses in beautiful locations that encourage guests to mingle.

What’s the schedule?

We always check course descriptions and itineraries, if available. Learning a new technique is an enjoyable way to spend time. Getting in the zone, losing track of time, perfecting skills. But this is still a holiday, right?

Absolutely. And that’s why we make sure art courses have a balance between teaching and time off. After all, whilst learning new skills is fun, it’s just as much fun to take the time to discover new surroundings – and who knows, maybe find the perfect spot to sketch or take a picture?

What’s the price?

And of course, we always look at the relation between pricing and the offer to make sure you get the best bang for your buck. After all, no-one wants to fall into a pricing trap!