Dates: 21 March, 2026 - 28 March, 2026
Location: Clos Mirabel, Jurancon, France
Participants: All level of drawing ability including beginners

Join us for a week-long workshop on creating a perfect travel sketchbook, or what the French call “carnet de voyage”. We will learn all of the main aspects of telling a visual story of a place from drawing sweeping landscapes and rendering architecture, to sketching traditional Pyrenees villages and capturing unique flavors of a local market.

How to register

Click here to register and pick accommodations directly with Clos Mirabel.

About the retreat

Have you ever arrived in a new place and been immediately overwhelmed by its unique character and beauty? Our natural instinct is to capture this beauty, to cherish and remember it. Taking photos provides a quick and easy solution, but doesn’t allow you to really look and absorb the place with all of your senses to truly make it yours. 

Join us in the magical place following in the footsteps of French romantic painter Eugène Delacroix. While  suffering from respiratory ailments Delacroix came to this area  seeking fresh mountain air of the Pyrenees. What he found were majestic mountains and the hidden villages that provided a lot of inspiration to the 19th century artist –he filled many  pages of his famous sketchbooks with scenes that largely remain unchanged even today. We now have a unique chance to spend a week in the same location that inspired Delacroix putting together a perfect travel sketchbook. 

Let’s delve into the art of Carnet de Voyage. Over the course of a week we will create a travel sketchbook that truly captures the place and honors its beauty. 

Program (Subject to Change)

Saturday

4.00 -Check-in time from 4pm onwards. Guests arrive, settle in and explore Clos Mirabel

6.30 Welcome drinks and dinner 

Sunday – Objects That Tell A Story

8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce
10.00 – 1.00 Main themes and tools of Travel Reportage. Intro to Storytelling, Textures and Values. Writing in Travel Reportage.
1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at Clos Mirabel
2.00 – 5.00 Field Exercise: Drawing objects that tell a story
6.30 – Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House

Monday – The Natural World

8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce
10.00 – 12.00 Natural World in Ink and Watercolor. Monochrome washes. Watercolor techniques. Atmospheric perspective. Value Maps.
1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at Clos Mirabel
2.00 – 5.00 Capturing the majestic landscape that surrounds us
6.30 – Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House

Tuesday – day off

8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce
We suggest wine tasting in local vineyard, explore Pau or beyond
6.30 – Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House

Wednesday – Day Out in the Pyrénées

9.00 –1.00 Exploring the traditional villages of Castet and Bilhères en Ossau. Choosing and Simplifying What you Draw. Perspective. Vignettes
1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at local Auberge or gourmet picnic
2.00 – 5.00 Sketching in Castet and Bilhères en Ossau
6.30 – Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House

Thursday – Capturing the Spirit of a Royal City

8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce
10.00 – 1.00 Drawing in Pau: C16th quarter with its historic Château and Parliament of Navarre. Creative approach to capturing Architecture. Composition.
1.00 – 2.00 Lunch on your own (recommendations provided)
2.00 – 5.00 Drawing in Pau: Place Royale & Boulevard des Pyrénées.
6.30 – Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House

Friday – Telling The Story of Human Activity

8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce
10.00 – 1.00 Jurançon Market. Drawing people. Showing activity. Putting your visual story together. 
1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at Clos Mirabel
2.00 – 5.00 Sketch Walk to our local vineyard
6.00 – Evening exhibition of the work produced during the week
6.30 – Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House

Saturday – Buffet Breakfast and departure (Check-out 11am)

Questions?
Please contact urbansketcherspdx@gmail.com