| 2026 SPRING PORTRAIT PAINTING in ARGENTON CHATEAU |
“The singular point of beautiful objects, and people, is that they are experienced not as parts, or ratios between cheekbones and chin, but as wholes.
The experience of beauty is a perception, but it is one that mixes up various other sensations and makes them converge in a particular way.”
– Charles JENCKS, Postmodernism, 1986
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| LOCATION: | 2026 Spring Portrait Painting will convene in Argenton-Chateau (79). Please see our Facilities page for complete details on our campus and school facilities. |
| CLASS DATES: | TBA Group Arrival: TBA at Angers/St Laud – Gare SNCF. |
| CLASS SCHEDULE: |
Studio sessions will be held for 3 weeks total, Sunday – Thursday with 6 hrs life model daily, 5 days per week. |
| CLASS SIZE: | 10 maximum + instructor(s) |
| WHO is ELIGIBLE? | Anyone may apply. There are no academic or other pre-requisites. All students must enroll full-time for this 3-week program. |
| TUITION PRICE: | 2750 euros, shared 2BR housing included. (Single living available in limited supply, for +600 euros minimum.) |
| APPLICATION DEADLINE: |
5 SEPTEMBER 2025 |
| PAYMENT DEADLINE: | 13 SEPTEMBER 2025 |
| HOW to APPLY: |
Admissions for 2026 SPRING PORTRAIT in ARGENTON CHATEAU will open in Summer 2025. Please review the ADMISSIONS page for general information about the application process. |
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COURSE DESCRIPTION
2026 Spring Portrait Painting students will receive daily instruction in portrait painting – both short pose (3-6 hrs) and long pose (15 – 25 hours) – as well as observe lecture-demonstrations 1-2x per week by founding faculty Nicole Michelle Tully and Timothy Stotz.
Students will profit from individual critique and demonstrations including: drawing directly on canvas or panel, color thumbnail (“poster study”), chromatic underpainting (“colorwash”), and single-pass painting execution, wet-into-wet (“form painting”).
Individual critique will be given 5 days weekly, and lecture-demonstrations will focus on drawing as well as painting questions. The studio culture offers daily opportunities for individual as well as group discussion, and impromptu “work-in-progress” demonstrations.
