Course Description

In this workshop, the outdoors will be brought indoors: plants, rocks, taxidermy animals or insects, flowers, feathers, will all be used to compose beautiful still lifes inspired by nature. You will learn how to compose, study, and paint a still life consisting of mostly organic and ‘natural’ objects, offering an investigation into how to paint surfaces and textures that are not man-made.

Painting a still life is a most versatile practice; it is an exercise in composition, drawing, organising values, matching colours, brush handling, as well as tackling the challenge of conveying a wide range of materials with paint. Historically, artists have traditionally used the still life genre deliberately as a means to show off their skills in painting all sorts of textures.

Over the course of five days, Eva will guide you through the traditional still life from start to finish: from arranging your chosen items into a pleasing composition, to making value- and colour studies, to finalising your painting in a way that balances technical accuracy with creative narrative.

What items will I paint? 
Choose from a selection of nature-inspired objects available at DARA, or bring items that inspire you from home.

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Key Learning Concepts

• Learn to compose and a masterful still life using natural objects, exploring pictorial arrangement, balance, and visual interest
  
• Develop technical skills in painting a variety of surfaces and textures found in plants, feathers, rocks, and even animals
  
• Gain control over colour mixing, value relationships, and brushwork through observational studies fully from life
  
• Combine technical accuracy with creative narrative to produce visually compelling and expressive still life paintings.

Eva Wientjes

Eva Wientjes is a classical figurative painter based in Groningen.

Her work is the result of two desires: observing and depicting life as accurately as possible, and revealing the conflicting, emotional experience of being a human on this planet.

After graduating from the Florence Academy of Art Sweden, Eva continued her training through an apprenticeship with the Norwegian painter Odd Nerdrum. Additionally, she completed a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Art History at the University of Groningen (2020) which contributed to her in-depth knowledge of historical paintings and classical techniques.

Today, she works in her studio in her hometown of Groningen, the Netherlands.

@eva_wientjes

Artist Bio >

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Supply List

The following items are required to participate in class. We carry most supplies for sale directly in the studio (accepted students receive a detailed PDF with further information.)

DRAWING TOOLS
1 graphite pencil - HB or B
Vine charcoal - a few sticks
Kneaded eraser
Masking tape
A knitting needle for measuring
Mirror
Pad of A4 sketch paper
1 sheet of paper to make the preliminary drawing on - A2 size or similar. Not too thick.
Transfer paper - A2 size or similar

Optional drawing tools:
Diverse sketching/study materials such as markers, white chalk and toned
paper
Black mirror​

OIL COLOURS
Lithopone White or Titanium White
Ivory Black
Old Holland Yellow Brown or Yellow Ochre
English Red
Cadmium Red
Ultramarine Blue
Cadmium Yellow
Pyrrole Orange
Transparent Iron Oxide Red

​PAINTING SUPPORT
A primed linen canvas, in the same/similar size as your large drawing paper. 
Optional - stretcher bars, if you prefer to stretch your own canvas

PAINTING MEDIUMS
Linseed Oil
Small container for storing mediums (either metal palette cups or glass jar with a secure lid)
Airtight brush washer for brush cleaning (optional)

Please note: if you clean your brushes with solvent, Gamsol is the only solvent permitted for use inside DARA classrooms. There are no exceptions. We sell Gamsol directly in the studio, including in small bottles suitable for short-term use for students who cannot travel with solvent after the course ends.

PAINTING TOOLS
Palette
Palette Knife
Paper Towels
Clamps to better secure your canvas to the easel (optional)

BRUSHES
Please bring at least 6 Bristle Brushes: two small, two medium and two large sizes.

Please bring any other brushes you are regularly using.

STILL LIFE OBJECTS
A wide selection of suitable items is available at DARA, but please also feel welcome to bring nature-inspired objects from home.

Tuition Fee & What's Included

INCLUDED  |   The tuition fee includes 30 hours of studio instruction, complimentary lunch served daily, coffee / tea / light refreshments served during all hours, basic studio equipment (easels, stools, drawing boards), and an end-of-workshop borrel (alcoholic & non-alcoholic drinks and light bites.)

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NOT INCLUDED  |   Accommodation, airfare, transport costs, and drawing or painting supplies are not included with the tuition fee.

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WHAT'S FOR LUNCH?  |   We serve a complimentary light lunch, prepared daily in house with love. Typical lunches include sandwiches, soups, salads, wraps, and other light and healthy fare. Menus change daily. We are happy to accommodate vegetarian & vegan diets.

Payment Deadlines

Acceptance when there is more than 1 month before the start of the workshop:

To keep your place on hold, a deposit payment must be made within 14 days of your acceptance letter:

• Option 1: The entire tuition fee is paid in one sum.
• Option 2: You pay in two parts: the first half is the deposit, and the second half is paid one month before the first day of class.
• Option 3: You sign up via our ecommerce platform to pay in monthly instalments, of between 4 to 6 instalments total according to your preference. The first instalment is considered the deposit. A 5% surcharge is added when you select this option. Monthly billing is available for Spring workshops before March 2026, and for Summer workshops before May 2026.

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Acceptance when there are 4 weeks or less before the start of the workshop:

The full cost of tuition is due within 5 working days of your acceptance letter. Tuition fees must be paid in full before the first day of lessons in order to participate.

Discounts & Financial Aid

To support artists in our community, DARA has several discounts on offer for our 2026 workshop roster - please see terms and conditions below. Additionally, you may be eligible for third-party subsidies to help fund your education at DARA.

Please note that the following offers apply to our Workshop Programme only. Available discounts may differ for our Trimester Programme & Bootcamps.​

Early Bird Discount

You are eligible for this discount if you register between 10 to 30 November for any workshop scheduled between the months of April to September 2026 and you reserve your space by paying a deposit within 14 days of your letter of acceptance.

Terms & Conditions:

• If you enrol in multiple courses, this discount applies to the workshop with the lowest tuition fee.
• If you cancel your enrolment and then decide to join the course at a later time, the discount is void.
• If your deposit payment is not received by the deadline (within 14 days of your letter of acceptance), the discount is void.
• If you enrol in a workshop at the Early Bird rate, and then later decide to transfer to a different workshop, the discount is void.
• This discount does not apply to the workshop "Drawing the Portrait: Structure & Form" with Kevin Muller-Cisneros, scheduled in January 2026. Kevin's workshop has a separate special discount on offer - see here for details.

Artist Discount

Registering for multiple workshops? The more courses you take, the more you save!

As a show of gratitude to our dedicated students, DARA offers you a €50 discount for each additional workshop you join in 2026, for maximum savings of up to €200.

What you save:

• Any 2 Workshops: save €50 off the combined total of tuition fees;
• Any 3 Workshops: save €100 off the combined total of tuition fees;
• Any 4 Workshops: save €150 off the combined total of tuition fees;
• Any 5+ Workshops: save €200 off the combined total of tuition fees.

Terms & Conditions:

• You can combine this discount with the Early Bird discount. Register early and maximise your savings!
• If you cancel your enrolment in one or more workshops, the full discount will no longer apply.
• This discount only applies to our Workshop Programme. If you enrol in only one workshop, but also join some other type of course (a trimester course, bootcamp, etc.) you are not eligible for this discount.

Subsidies & Financial Aid

Career Development for Creative Professionals: Funding up to €2.000
If you work in the creative sector in the Netherlands, either for a company or as a ZZP'er, you may be eligible for third-party funding from Werktuig-PPO when you enrol in courses at DARA.

Please check terms & eligibility here.


Volwassenenfonds Sport and Culture
This fund provides support that enables those from low-income households to be involved in the arts. You must have a registered address within the Netherlands. You can apply to the fund in your own region through the website.

Please check terms & eligibility here.

Cancellation & Studio Policies

See all Studio Policies >

• Policies if I cancel >

• Policies if DARA cancels >

• Credit tuition fees to something else >

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• If you cancel your enrolment, you may be eligible for a full or partial refund. DARA is not liable for the cost of accommodation, airfare or travel, or any other student expenses associated with the workshop.
  
  Full Refund
  1) If you cancel within 14 days of paying your first instalment of tuition fees, you receive a full refund, even if the course already began.* (*In this situation, you are required to pay the cost of services rendered. This is calculated by the number of lessons that were completed at the time you cancelled, regardless of whether or not you attended class. The remaining balance is refunded.)
  
  2) If you cancel more than 6 months before the start of the workshop, you receive a full refunded.
  
  3) If you cancel at any time before the workshop, and either you or DARA is able to find someone else to take your place, you receive a full refund 14 days after the alternate student has paid to reserve the vacant space.
  
  Partial Refund
  1) If you cancel when there are more than 4 weeks, but fewer than 6 months, before the start of the workshop, DARA retains 50% of the total tuition fee. If you have paid more than 50% of the tuition fee, than the remaining balance is refunded to you.
  
  Please note that if we are able to find someone else to fill your place in the workshop, we will refund you in full 14 days after the alternate student has reserved the available space.
  
  Situations where you are not eligible for a refund
  1) You are not eligible for a refund if you cancel when there are fewer than 4 weeks before the start of the workshop. However, please note that we will waive this policy and refund you in full if we can find someone else to take your place before the workshop begins.
  
  2) You are not eligible for a refund if you are absent from class, or you withdraw from the workshop for any reason after the course starts. You are also not eligible to credit your tuition fee to a different course in this situation.
• If we have not reached sufficient levels of student enrolment for the course to go forward, we will notify you two months in advance of the scheduled start date.
  
  In this circumstance, you can opt to:
  
  

  • Keep a space reserved to attend the course at a postponed date;
  • Transfer your enrolment to another available course;
  • Receive a full refund of tuition fees.

  
  ​Please note that DARA is not liable for students' accommodation, airfare, travel costs, or other expenses affiliated with the workshop.
  
  If a single lesson is cancelled (for example, due to the instructor falling seriously ill or other exceptional circumstance), every effort will be made to schedule a make-up session at a time convenient for the majority of students. A refund for the lesson is offered to any students who cannot attend the make-up session. DARA reserves the right to substitute in another qualified instructor or model in a class if necessary.
• Crediting your tuition fee to a different workshop is permitted in the following circumstances:
  
  Conditions of eligibility
  1) There are more than 6 weeks before the start of the workshop you were originally accepted to.
  
  2) You will transfer to a specific course which is currently open for registration at DARA. We are not able to keep tuition fees on hold for a hypothetical course at some unfixed time in the future.
  
  3) The course you would like to transfer into has places available, and if there are any eligibility requirements, you meet them. (Please note that there are no entrance requirements for workshops or bootcamps, however there are requirements for our Trimester Programme.)
  
  4) If there is a price difference between the two courses, such that the tuition fee of the course you want to transfer into costs less than your original workshop, DARA will refund the difference in tuition fees up to €300. Any amount left over is retained by DARA.
  
  If all four conditions are not met, it is not possible to credit your tuition fee to a different course. Please refer to the Cancellation Policy.
  

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